En Masse
by SocialDegenerate
Summary: Kritiker China is dissolved, and one of its teams is sent to work with a certain Japanese Kritiker team. The groups find that they have an awful lot in common...
1. Chapter 1

*******I can't believe how few Weiss/Saiyuki crossovers there are. It just seems to work, because of how similar the characters are. Anyway, the Saiyuki side has been modified in what it is that they actually do, there is no 'journey' as such. I have no idea where this is going to head.

Pairings at this point will vary, but I can almost definitely say that there will be no pairings involving Goku or Omi. They might be legally of age, but they're drawn so young-looking that it makes me feel icky. Everyone else is fair game!*******

* * *

Kicking back in his favourite bar, Kudoh Yohji surveyed the crowd in search of a willing target. The Saturday night rush was in full swing, but for reasons unknown to him, no one was catching his attention.

'_Had her…not my style…boyfriend…had her…had her…oh HELL no…Mmmm, hello! No, wait, wedding ring…'_

Usually he wasn't anywhere near this picky- married hadn't stopped him before- but something at the back of his mind was whispering that good things come to those who wait. Finishing off his drink, Yohji was just about to stand and move to the bar for another when he registered a presence standing far too close to be accidental. Flicking his eyes upwards to see who the interrupter was, hoping desperately that it wasn't Ken coming to drag him home again, a smile spread across his face.

'_Maybe I'm gettin' lucky after all…This chick's got better hair than both Aya and Manx, what a colour!' _He couldn't see much other than the glimpse of red hair, but when he tilted his head to get a better look at the person standing before him, the blonde nearly fell out of his seat in shock.

'_Holy shit, that's a __**dude**__? You've gotta be kidding me! Then again…it's been a while since I last had a guy, and he wasn't anywhere near as gorgeous as Mr Scarlet-and-Leather here…Ah, shit, why not?' _Just as he'd made up his mind to scam on the man standing by his chair, though, the first move was made for him.

"So, you just gonna stare at me all night, or will you offer me a seat? Hey, I'll even buy you a drink, if that'll increase my chances." The voice, definitely masculine and speaking flawless but slightly accented Japanese, drew Yohji's attention to the smirking face, his eyes stopping at twin scars adorning the redhead's cheek.

Considering the marks that would've marred another person, Yohji thought that the lines added to the man's air of danger, and immediately kicked out the seat next to him.

"Hell, if you're buying, then you're welcome at my table any day. I'm Kudoh Yohji, but just call me Yohji. Don't expect me to get up and hold your chair, though." Smiling seductively, he gestured to the chair he'd just kicked from the table, inviting the other man to sit down.

Casually seating himself, placing his elbow on the table and leaning his chin onto his hand, the unknown man continued to smirk sexily. "Yohji, huh? I like it, rolls off the tongue nicely. Sha Gojyo, but I let the good-looking ones call me Gojyo. What are you drinking?"

"Ah, just get me one of whatever you're having, I'll swallow almost anything." Finishing off his sentence with a wink, Gojyo laughed at the implied suggestion and Yohji was glad that he'd read the man right. This one was just like him- playful, good-natured, and definitely used to picking up in bars.

Getting their drinks and sitting back down, Yohji struck up a conversation with the enigmatic Gojyo. "So, can't say I've ever seen you around before, and I'm sure I'd notice a guy who falls into the 'competition' category as perfectly as you. Traveller?"

The other man smiled at the compliment, wondering exactly how to explain what he was doing in Japan. He wasn't entirely sure himself; one day they were working in China, the next…

"Ah, sort of. Here with some other guys on business, probably gonna be in town for a while. We're staying down the street, but I had to get out. The Boss-Man was driving me fucking insane, and I was this close to just killing him, ha ha!"

Yohji laughed along, all too familiar with infuriating workmates. He didn't know if Gojyo's boss was quite as annoying as the antisocial, grumpy redhead he had to live with, but could appreciate the sentiment nonetheless. Looking directly into the stranger's eyes, for the first time Yohji noticed their unusual colour. They matched almost perfectly with Gojyo's hair, adding yet another element to the man's good looks, and he couldn't help but comment on them.

"Hey, man, your eyes are the most amazing colour I've ever seen! I thought I'd never see anything that'd beat purple, but my God you've done it."

Looking down into his glass, Gojyo tried to hide his discomfort at the blonde man's statement, knowing perfectly well that it wasn't a veiled jab at his heritage, but still unable to forget years of torment stemming from his hair and eye colour. Remembering the mention of purple, he vaguely wondered whether Yohji had already come across Sanzo somehow, or if purple eyes were more common than he'd thought. Trying to keep his voice normal, Gojyo steered the conversation away from himself, into more neutral territory.

"Purple eyes are pretty damned amazing…but then again, the only guy I know who has 'em tends to ruin the effect by doing nothing but glaring." When Yohji started to laugh, a red head flicked upwards again to silently ask what was so outrageously funny.

"Ha ha ha, I guess it's genetic or something, because my purple-eyed housemate is a bastard who has a permanent glare plastered on his face too! It's a shame, he'd be fucking sexy if he'd just smile every once in a while!" Yohji knew it was true; he would've bedded Aya a long time ago if he wasn't worried about losing certain vital body parts. He was glad to see Gojyo laugh, having sensed that the other man was feeling uncomfortable over something just a moment ago. _'I don't want to accidentally ruin my chances this early into the piece!'_

Glad that the topic was off his unusual colouring, Gojyo decided that he wanted to learn more about the Japanese man sitting next to him. '_If I have to be stuck here for a while, may as well see if I can't pick up a gorgeous, regular partner to screw around with while we're in town!_ _I don't really feel like finding someone new every time I'm horny.'_

"Housemate? You live with someone else?" Gojyo started silently plotting where they could go if they took this further, and it was looking like Yohji's place was probably out.

"Actually, I live with three other guys. We work together too, in a store below the house. Aya, that's the purple-eyed one, is nearly impossible to put up with, but the other two are okay. It's bearable."

Amazed, Gojyo ran through the similarities between himself and the blonde. It was almost eerie how many things they had in common, both personality- and situation-wise.

"Three guys, huh? Me too! Weird. So what kind of store do you guys have?" He couldn't pick exactly what Yohji would do…dressed as he was, in tight jeans and a cropped shirt, Gojyo couldn't pick up any hints from his attire. There was also an underlying strength about the man, something that wasn't sitting quite right with Gojyo's instincts. He couldn't sense any Youkai energy, though, so he'd put that feeling down to Sanzo's paranoia rubbing off.

"Umm…" Yohji paused, still slightly embarrassed by his ridiculous cover job, "We run a flower shop. I'm a florist by trade."

A moment's silence passed, and Yohji watched Gojyo's red eyebrows rising. Then, all of a sudden, the other man started to laugh loudly and bang his fist on the table. The redhead was even more handsome when he laughed, and Yohji felt a familiar tingle in his groin at the sight, lust warring with humiliation at the man's reaction to his job.

"You're…a florist?...That's fucking…awesome! I would pay to see you doing that…you're gonna have to…tell me where you work…so that I…can drop by!" Gojyo was struggling to talk between gasps for breath, his laughter shaking him so hard. Yohji, by this point, had gotten over his embarrassment and was joining the man in laughter, his utter unsuitability for floristry having provided hours of entertainment over the time he'd spent working in the store.

Yohji was about to ask what Gojyo did for a living when a leather-clad leg pressed into his own, distracting him and sending more blood towards his crotch. Downing his drink in one, Yohji turned and leant his arm over the man's closest shoulder, moving his lips close to a hidden ear. He felt a slight shiver go through Gojyo when he moved the hair away to be heard properly.

"Listen…this place is getting a bit crowded for my liking. Wanna move on?" He could already tell what the man's answer would be. After all, he'd started it.

"Thought you'd never ask, Yohji. Just let me get my purse…" Gojyo replied with a smirk. Letting out a quick laugh, Yohji stood and pulled the other man up by the arm. Letting go of the bicep and putting his arm around broad shoulders instead, Yohji led the man out of the bar and into the street.

"So…my hotel's not far from here, and I've got a room to myself. Will that be quiet enough for you?" Gojyo was thanking his lucky stars that Sanzo had booked separate rooms for their extended stay. The amount of times he'd had to give up company because he'd been rooming with Hakkai while they'd been travelling for work…it was ridiculous.

Yohji was also glad, because he didn't feel like trying to sneak Gojyo past the others. He'd done it before, but it just took way too much effort to get an untrained civilian through a house of assassins. Omi would definitely give him a lecture about letting strangers into their house, and Aya would make some insulting comment about his promiscuity and bisexuality. Not to mention that it was always slightly more awkward to be caught with a man. No, it was just easier to go to the other person's place.

"Sounds good. But hopefully it won't stay quiet for too long…" Watching the other's mouth move, Gojyo was fighting the urge to lean in and see just how good Yohji tasted; he'd been warned that Japan generally wasn't too crash hot about public displays. Not advice he'd usually listen to, but Sanzo would certainly shoot him if he got arrested or something equally as stupid. Taking a Hi-Lite from the pack in his pocket, it was in his mouth before Gojyo thought to ask if the blonde man would have a problem with him smoking. '_I've been spending way too much time with the same three guys…I'd forgotten that not everyone is used to me…'_

Opening his mouth to ask, he stopped when he saw Yohji drawing his own cigarette towards his mouth. Laughing softly, he grabbed his lighter and lit the smoke dangling from his lips, offering the small flame to Yohji.

Shaking his head, Yohji passed on Gojyo's lighter, instead taking the man's face in his hands. Pressing his cigarette to the lit end of the other, he proceeded to ignite his own smoke and then take a drag, sighing softly as the nicotine entered his body.

Gojyo could no longer resist not touching the blonde, and slipped his arm around the flat waist to lead him towards the hotel. Walking with their arms around each other, the pair attracted everything from longing stares to disapproving remarks, but all their attention was focused solely on getting into the hotel and out of their clothes.

* * *

The next morning, Yohji was awakened by the irritating buzzing noise of his mobile phone. Reluctantly moving his arms from the naked, muscled body pressed against him, he answered the phone with a sleepy "What?"

"Oi, Yohji, if you can drag yourself away from whatever idiot you managed to trick into sleeping with you, we kinda need an appearance. Manx is here." Ken's voice filtered down the line, sounding pissed off. Yohji was feeling the same; Manx on a Sunday morning? Was there no justice in the world?

"Uh-huh. Give me thirty minutes, she can wait. It's her own fault for coming this fucking early. See ya."

"Omi says twenty, Yohji. Later."

Hanging up, Yohji turned back to the figure beside him. Gojyo looked tired, rumpled and ridiculously sensual, stretching his long arms with a satisfied sigh. The blonde smiled apologetically, genuinely sorry that he had to bail so soon.

"Morning, gorgeous. I gotta go; my sister's turned up at the store and she's demanding to see me. But hey, come visit me sometime, if my humiliation makes you happy." The lie fell easily from his lips, having been used a few times over the years. Yohji didn't often let his one-night-stands know where he worked and lived, but there was something about Gojyo that made him want to see the man again. Writing the name and address of the store next to his phone number, Yohji dropped the hotel-issue pen and paper on the nightstand, moving out of the bed to get dressed again.

Gojyo murmured his appreciation at the sight of a fully-naked Yohji, telling himself to stay firmly in bed so that he didn't delay the blonde by throwing him back onto the bed and screwing him senseless.

"Well, as much as I hate to let you go, I may just take you up on that offer. Like I said, we'll probably be here for a while. I'll see you round, Yohji." The blonde finished dressing and leant down to kiss Gojyo, hoping that he'd get to feel those lips wrap around his cock again sometime. It'd been a long while since he'd had such a fantastic night, and he wanted to see if they could pull it off again.

Moving away and waving slightly, the assassin left the hotel room, almost walking directly into a man with short, dark hair and a…monocle? Contemplating the interesting fashion choice, quick apologies were muttered and Yohji returned to his car, dreading what Manx would have lined up for them this early on a Sunday.

Staring after the attractive blonde, Hakkai walked into Gojyo's room.

"Now Gojyo, that rather fetching man didn't happen to come from in here, did he?" Hakkai was wearing a small smile that would have looked simply polite to a stranger, but Gojyo could tell that his friend was genuinely impressed by his latest catch. The redhead laughed.

"You know it! I'm gonna have to look him up again, that guy was one good roll. Almost as good as you, 'Kai baby." Gojyo still couldn't believe his luck in finding a friend like Hakkai. They'd been sleeping together casually since just after Gojyo stumbled across the other man half dead, but there were no demands of exclusivity or feelings beyond friendship. As far as Gojyo was concerned, it was the perfect arrangement.

"You flatter me, Gojyo, but I'm still here to get you from bed. They want us to meet up with a local group later today, and Sanzo has some details to go over first. He's quite on edge at the moment." Message delivered, the green-eyed man left the room out of a characteristic sense of privacy, allowing Gojyo to dress in peace even though he'd seen it all before. The redhead picked up the slip of paper with the address and phone number, snorting with laughter when he saw the name of the flower shop. _'Geez, how unlucky! Being a florist at a place with such a stupid name…But I guess he has to balance out all his positives somehow!'_

Gojyo tucked the paper into his discarded pants pocket, sighed, and got up to face spending more time with a grumpy bastard, an annoying monkey and the best friend he'd ever had.

* * *

Yohji walked through the back door of the house, heading straight to the mission room where he assumed the others would be waiting. Using his foot to push the stairway door open, he busied his hands trying, in vain, to flatten his bed hair. Four figures already occupied the room, so Yohji flopped down onto the stairs and shot Manx a charming smile.

"Morning, Manxy babe! I have no problem with seeing your beautiful face, but why so early?" As usual, the secretary simply glared at Yohji, not falling for his half-baked lines- of which he seemed to have an endless supply.

"Sorry, Balinese, for dragging you away from some naked and willing blonde bimbo. It's really quite unfortunate that your job sometimes gets in the way of your social life; I'll inform the Dark Beasts that they have to make appointments to perform evil from now on." Already riled at the fact that she was forced to wait around for the last Weiss member, Manx was in no mood to remain polite.

"Actually, last night's body was a naked and very willing redhead, completely-…" Yohji's rebuttal was cut off, Manx wanting to finish her duty with Weiss as quickly as possible.

"It does not matter, Balinese. You have a job today, though it is different from your usual missions. As you may be aware, Kritiker is not limited to Japan. There are branches of the organisation in most countries, and they all report to one central location. Recently, the Chinese arm of Kritiker suffered some…internal problems, and it was temporarily dissolved. Its teams were spread to other countries."

Aya, standing against the wall of the room, raised his voice at this explanation. "If you are heading in the direction I believe you are, then there are some serious miscommunications occurring here. I am an assassin, not a babysitter."

The two redheads stood, silently glaring at each other. Yohji, thoroughly amused by the tension, voiced the first thing that came to mind- something he'd seen in a trashy American television show. "Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-…"

He trailed off when twin glares were turned towards him, having to make a conscious effort not to shy back into the stairs under the intimidating expressions. Raising his palms in apology, Yohji gestured for the woman to continue.

"I am fully aware of that fact, Abyssinian. However, it is Kritiker who pay you, and therefore it is Kritiker who get to decide what you will be doing. The Chinese team that will be residing here, in this part of Japan, are highly similar to Weiss. It is for this reason that they have been assigned, in a manner of speaking, to you. Weiss, it is your duty to ensure that the team is properly integrated into Japan, in order to uphold their cover. They will be posing as friends of yours, which will make it less suspicious for them to be around here, and give their reason for being in this country a more solid backing."

Three groans greeted this, the older Weiss members all unamused by the prospect of having to act friendly with an unknown team. '_I absolutely __**hate**__ working with other guys…they always assume that they're so much better than us, just because we're a young group. Goddamned amateurs. Fuck this!' _Yohji was smart enough, however, to not voice those particular thoughts; he didn't feel up to incurring Manx's wrath any further.

Only Omi remained silent, angered by the news but polite enough to keep silent about his feelings. He was always singled out by other teams as being too young, or too innocent, even if that was entirely false. The closest Kritiker member he'd met to his own age was Ken, even though he'd grown up around the organisation.

"As a hotel is not an appropriate place for a mission briefing, they will also be using you facilities in this room when necessary. Minor injury concerns will also have to be dealt with here, in order to keep from arousing suspicion. I will be returning in an hour with the new men, so please ensure that you are all present until then." Although her language was general enough, it was obvious to all in the room that Manx was directing that final comment at the often-absent Yohji. Sighing, the tall blonde mock-saluted Manx, standing to allow her a clear passage up the stairs.

Without another word, Manx left the basement and the men who were in it. As soon as they heard the stairway door close, Yohji and Ken began to voice their various complaints, Aya's scowl increased tenfold and Omi attempted to ward off a threatening headache.

* * *

Manx checked the number in her notebook against the number on the hotel room door, finding herself to be in the right place. Knocking sharply three times, she pushed the door open and had to resist the urge to close it straight away at the sight that greeted her.

At opposite ends of the small room were two men, one smiling congenially yet without feeling, and the other glaring dangerously towards the centre of the room, hand twitching as if wanting desperately to grab something. The spectacle that had the attention of the pair was a loud, raucous fight between the other two of the group, a tall redhead and a young brunette who seemed to be wearing a tiara of sorts.

Not in the least bit amused, Manx cleared her throat and closed the door with slightly more force than necessary. The fighting duo immediately froze and detangled from each other, the smiling man stood to greet their visitor and the angry-looking blonde continued to glower at the two in the centre.

"Good morning! You must be Manx. Please, excuse my companions; we're all a little tired at the moment." Surprised by the courtesy the monocled man showed her, Manx ran through her mental database to place a name to each of the room's occupants. _'This one must be Cho Hakkai…he seems to match perfectly with his file's description, carefully hiding his true emotions under a mask of impeccable politeness. The blonde is…Genjyo Sanzo, and the child has to be his ward, Son Goku. The redhead…Oh, shit, he's the one that's just like…'_

"They never warned me that our contact would be this astoundingly gorgeous! Tell me, sweetheart, what are you doing after this?" Gojyo paused in fixing his slightly dishevelled appearance to shoot Manx a dashing grin, eerily reminiscent of the one she had been 'treated' to earlier.

Summoning her most fierce look, the woman proceeded to immediately crush any improper thoughts the tall man may have been entertaining. Not that she thought it would discourage him very much, if Balinese was anything to go by. "Please refrain from speaking to me like that again. It would be highly unfortunate for me to have to…remove you from duty with a bullet."

"Ha ha, hey Sanzo, this woman's just like you! She even has-OW!" Just as the youngest male began to speak, Manx caught a hint of something white as the blonde man pulled an object from his sleeve, hit the boy over the head with it, and replaced it in his robes within a matter of seconds. Recalling that the man was supposed to be a Buddhist priest, she marvelled at his methods of discipline and found herself vaguely wondering, yet again, whether using violence on Balinese would discourage his advances.

"Shut up, monkey! And don't you dare start laughing, you perverted kappa. I am in no mood to watch you attempt to pick up anything on two legs." For the first time, Sanzo turned his head towards their visitor, and Manx momentarily admired how similar in colour his eyes were to Abyssinian's. Mentally shaking herself, she began to speak.

"Yes, as you seem to know, I am Manx, one of the secretaries of Kritiker's Japanese branch leader. To minimise confusion, you will know that man as 'Persia', which is how the local team here refer to him. I will be taking you over to them as soon as I've gone through some small details."

As she glanced around the room, Manx could still see the other redhead eyeing her up and down appreciatively. She pointedly ignored him, turning her attention to the other three men. "This other team is known as Weiss, a group who are effectively your Japanese counterparts. Although you will be staying here at this hotel, mission briefings will generally be delivered in the basement of the building where they live, to minimise the possibility of information leaks. You four will be posing as visiting friends of theirs, which will give you an excuse to be around their dwelling."

Although this group was taking the news better than Weiss, there was still some slight animosity that Manx could sense. _'I'm not sure if this will get better or worse when they actually meet…the similarities between the members could breed either friendship or deep opposition. It's nearly impossible to tell which at this point.'_

She glanced at the still-smiling Hakkai, looking away when his falsely cheerful face unnerved her slightly. Settling instead on the sullen priest, she finished her piece. "I'll be taking you to meet with them now. You'll need to memorise the location of the building, though, as there will not always be a guide with you."

Turning to leave the room, Manx had to hide a smirk as she considered the four behind her. _'Those girls who fawn over Weiss are going to have a field day with this group…I almost feel bad about not warning them what to expect when they go to the store on a weekday. Almost.'_

* * *

Weiss sat in the kitchen of the Koneko building, anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new playmates. Yohji was drumming his fingers across the table, the noise gaining him an attempted backhand across the face from Ken, and a vicious scowl from Aya. That just made him want to do it more, though, as he'd turned annoying his perpetually grumpy teammate into an art form. The sound of the house's back door opening stopped his fingers moving, all the attention in the room turned to the door which was about open.

The wood pushing inward with a slight squeak, the familiar form of Manx was first into the room. Yohji didn't even have a comment lined up for her, too busy trying to catch a glimpse of the new arrivals. What he saw was incredibly different to everything he had imagined over the course of the past hour.

After Manx came a young, drop-dead gorgeous blonde man in a white dress of some description, who seemed to also be wearing a look which screamed that he wanted everyone in the world to disappear. Bouncing off the walls around that man was a kid who couldn't have been much older than Omi, babbling quickly about something or other. The next man, a slim brunette, seemed oddly familiar to Yohji...but that thought was put out of his mind when he caught a flash of the red hair that had dominated his thoughts that morning. Mind vaguely telling his mouth that it might be best to stay quiet, Yohji couldn't help but address the last man in line.

"Gojyo? Is that you?" At the exclamation, the head turned and distinctive scarlet eyes landed on the gaping blonde.

"Holy FUCK, Yohji? What the-…You mean-…Oh, fuck, man!" Jaw dropping, Gojyo stared at Yohji, not bothering to take any of the room's other occupants in. Both men missed that six of the people present were also staring at the pair, minds racing as they attempted to figure out exactly how the two already knew each other. Hakkai, who already knew the nature of the relationship, decided to politely keep quiet about what was a private matter.

Sanzo was the first to break the silence. "You mind explaining this, you nimrod kappa?"

The two men kept gawking at each other, still unable to process that they were meeting again under such circumstances. Deciding that an explanation was easier than dodging one of Sanzo's bullets, Gojyo wondered how best to put why they knew each other without mentioning how the evening ended. He knew that his best friend would stay quiet about what he saw.

"Ah, well…I met Yohji at a bar last night. I…I fucking knew that there was no way you could be a florist! This explains it, you sneaky bastard!" Gojyo felt pieces clicking into place, the unlikelihood of Yohji's profession, the aura of strength he seemed to have…

"Ha ha, well, that's about right, but we really are florists as well as Kritiker lackeys. It's our cover job, so it wasn't a total lie. Anyway, it's not like-…"

Yohji's sentence was cut off when the sound of near-hysterical laughter filled the room. Looking to its source, he spotted Ken desperately gripping the table as he attempted to not fall out of his chair. "It was…HIM…wasn't it…last night…you said…naked and very willing…redhead…you've already…slept with that guy…haven't you!"

Seconds passed, with only the sound of Ken's laughter breaking the silence. Then, almost simultaneously, Omi and Goku also cracked up after seeing the twin blushes that rose on Gojyo and Yohji's faces. Hakkai was politely attempting to stifle his laughter, not wanting to embarrass his friend further but unable to ignore the hilarity of the situation. The mask of professionalism that Manx wore at all times seemed to be struggling under the idea of the two men spending the night together. Sanzo and Aya, however, were both looking as if they were deciding who to kill first; but a keen observer may have noticed that a flash of jealousy passed through the eyes of both the disagreeable men for a short moment.

When the sound of laughter eventually died down, Gojyo turned to Hakkai. "Well, I s'pose that guy's never had to hear one of your lectures about 'not replacing tact with honesty' or whatever!" Spinning back to Yohji, he gestured around the room, "I guess we should introduce our teams, hey? Since we haven't really gotten off to the best start..."

Smiling brightly, Yohji nodded his agreement and considered exactly what this latest revelation was going to mean.

**-TBC-**

* * *

*******Just quickly, the whole 'Gojyo mistaken for a girl' thing came about after I spent a good couple of minutes trying to convince a friend that he was, in fact, male. The same thing's happened with both Schuldig and Nagi. At no point did my friend believe me.*******


	2. Chapter 2

*******Everybody rejoice; I've actually figured out a plot for this story! Yay! So hang tight, this is another introductory-type chapter, but we're getting somewhere now. I've even managed to get away from Gojyo and Yohji for some of this one!*******

* * *

Snapping out of her shock, Manx coughed slightly and attempted to formulate her thoughts.

"Ah…yes well, Weiss, this is the Ikkou. They will be here for an undetermined amount of time, so get used to having them about." Checking her watch, the secretary's eyes widened. "Now, I'm going to have to leave you boys to it. I will call if I need to contact either team."

She cast a final glance around the room and left, curious to witness how the men would interact but having other business to attend to. The last thing that Manx heard on her way out was Yohji starting to speak, but the words were coming from too far away to be understood by her.

"So, Ikkou guys, I've obviously met Gojyo here, as Ken so politely pointed out, but who the Hell are the rest of you?"

"Hang on a sec, Yohji, I just wanna know; that hot Manx chick isn't hiding any surprises under that little red skirt, is she?" Gojyo only wanted to know for innocent purposes, naturally. The look of confusion on Yohji's face caused him to clarify what he'd…somehow managed to discover.

"Ha ha, y'see, our hottie 'female' contact kinda has a bit too much equipment, if you get what I mean. I'm just curious whether it's a Kritiker policy to hire hermaphrodites or something!"

The explanation brought forth a new round of laughter from Yohji and Ken, both now imagining Manx as a man. Shaking his head, still giggling, Yohji tried to talk clearly. "I can't say totally because damn, that woman is frigid, but she's probably all chick. At least, I hope she is; I've been trying to get her out of those clothes for ages now."

Sanzo, standing in the corner of the room, snorted in disgust. _'I can see that this fool is a clone of that idiot half-breed. Can't go five fucking seconds without hitting on a pair of tits…'_

Used to hearing Sanzo's insults, Gojyo didn't react to the noise from the corner. Yohji, however, immediately turned his head to the side to look at Aya; surprise flashed through his eyes when he realised that it wasn't his teammate who'd made the sound. He recovered quickly though, remembering that there actually were others in the kitchen.

"Alright, I guess we should stop holding our own little chat and introduce everyone. I'm Kudoh Yohji, as you've probably guessed, otherwise known as the sex bomb, the sexiest thing since sex, or Balinese. That's my codename." He swept his arm around the room, introducing the other Weiss members as he went. "That shining example of manners is Hidaka Ken, Siberian to some. The chibi is Tsukiyono Omi, codenamed Bombay and also our illustrious leader-kid. Mr Detached over there is Fujimiya Aya, and the lucky bastard gets the best code ever, Abyssinian. And together, we're Weiss!" Yohji punctuated the final words with a short burst of jazz hands, sending Omi into muffled giggles.

Gojyo immediately centred on Aya, remembering how Yohji had said the night before that he was a complete pain with gorgeous eyes. He could definitely agree with the blonde that this guy would be amazingly gorgeous if he smiled; but as it was, Gojyo would hit that without a second thought, even if Aya did look like he could kill someone with a glare. _'Yep, he's definitely just like Sanzo, from what I see and what I've heard. The two are probably gonna get along like a goddamned house on fire!'_

"So you lot have codenames? We don't have anything like that; our regular names are all we ever go by. Guess Chinese Kritiker does shit a little differently. Anyway, I'm Sha Gojyo the, ah, what was it you said? 'Naked and very willing redhead'? Yep, sounds about right. This guy here's my best friend Cho Hakkai, and the monkey's Son Goku. His mind is pretty much stuck to thinking about food, so ignore him."

Goku let out an indignant yell at his introduction. "Oi, you stupid cockroach kappa, I can too get my mind off food!" Leaning forward as if to leap at Gojyo, he was halted by a familiar silver glint.

"Stop. Now. Before I excavate your flesh." Sanzo stood in his corner, brandishing a gun directly at Goku. A slight squeak escaped Omi at the sight of a weapon being used so casually, and Yohji stiffened, hand poised at his wrist to act if he had to. He relaxed his posture only when the gun disappeared back into the standing man's sleeve, questioning Gojyo with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, heh heh, you should probably get used to him doing shit like that. Genjyo Sanzo, the Boss-Man I told you about. He's an asshole but he's a crack shot; Cherry-chan over there could put a bullet through a forehead with his eyes closed. And he's trigger happy. Watch out for his fan, too."

Three of Weiss still looked slightly worried about the display they'd just witnessed. Aya was staring at Sanzo with grudging respect, appraising the man standing before him. _'Hmmm…maybe not everyone in this team is an idiot; their leader certainly seems like a formidable man.'_

Hakkai, in his infinite politeness, noticed the tension in the room and spoke to reassure the newly-introduced men. "I wouldn't worry about Sanzo, Weiss; Gojyo tends to act as if he has some sort of deathwish. You'll be fine, I promise."

Standing from the table, Omi walked over to Hakkai and took up a quiet conversation which Yohji held little to no interest in. Ken was bouncing a small hackey-sack, and Goku seemed to be watching him with interest, eyes following the rhythmic rise and fall of the small beanbag. Yohji also stood from the table, stretching out his arms and groaning loudly.

"Well, it's been fun and all, but I need some decent coffee. I'll be back later, I guess. Anyone wanna come?" Although the question was open enough, Yohji really only wanted one person to answer. He had some questions to ask, and he figured he'd be best off getting the answers from Gojyo. That Hakkai guy seemed…off, there was something completely unsettling about his expressions, Goku wouldn't have been much help, and the dude in the dress was, quite frankly, pants-shittingly terrifying with that gun.

Taking the not-so-subtle hint, Gojyo took a step towards his newest friend. "I'm game, hotel coffee is fucking terrible. See you guys later and try not to kill anyone, alright, monkey and baldy?"

Heading up the stairs, the pair ignored the various snarls, objections and affronts that were sent their way, happy to have some more time away from their respective teams.

* * *

"Thanks, gorgeous." Yohji smiled at the waitress who brought over their drinks, causing her to blush brightly. Things only got worse for the poor girl when Gojyo did the same, and both men feared for her health from the sensory overload of their combined presence. Nearly falling flat on her face in a dead faint, the girl scurried off and Yohji burst out laughing.

"I usually have to wear tighter clothes than these to get a reaction like that! Damn, but are we a good team or _what_? Actually, speaking of team, I have a couple'a questions I wanna ask about you guys, if you're cool with that." Yohji noticed that Gojyo didn't look at all surprised by the news, as if he was expecting that the coffee run was really a chance to drill for more information. Which it was.

"Yeah, go right ahead! I might come up with one or two questions of my own, so shoot." Leaning back in his chair, Gojyo linked his hands behind his head and wondered exactly what he was going to be asked. _'I don't know if he's picked up on the whole Youkai thing…I've heard that Japan doesn't really have any…'_

A smile spread over the Japanese man's face as he tilted his head to the side and phrased his first question. "Okay, one thing that's been bothering me: Your pissy blonde guy, what's with the dress? It's not really the most…_fear-inspiring_ outfit."

Fighting a severe round of mirth, Gojyo imagined what would have happened if Yohji had asked that question when Sanzo was in hearing range. The logical conclusion seemed to be the tall man being reduced to a limbless, bullet-ridden torso. He was also thinking that he was beginning to understand why he'd been dragged away from the others by the blonde. "Well, you'd be dead by now if he heard you call his robes a dress, so that makes the truth pretty hilarious: Sanzo's a Buddhist priest. One of the highest priests, actually!"

Yohji blinked twice in silence. "You're fucking with me. He's really just a tranny, right? I mean, he pulled a goddamn gun on the kid! I thought that Buddhists were supposed to be all about the peace and the love?" There was no way in Hell that the frocked-up psycho, who seemed to be Aya's personality twin, could be a Buddhist, let alone a priest.

"Sorry, Yohj- is it cool if I call you Yohj? I'm gonna do it anyway- he really is a priest. He may or may not also be a cross-dresser, but he's one hundred percent genuine priest. Did you see that kick-ass paper thingy on his shoulders? I've seen it tear apart four targets at once, it's damned hardcore and something that only Sanzos can use. Besides, we're all used to him pulling his gun on us; he's never managed to hit me or the monkey, so I reckon he's just overcompensating for 'other stuff'. He drinks, smokes and kills, but he's one of the highest Buddhists you'll ever meet."

Green eyes still showing disbelief, Yohji slouched back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He let out a snicker or two and decided not to press that particular line anymore. "Okay, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt there, because I can never resist a pretty face. So next question…did the kid really call you a kappa? You must have one Hell of a reputation to get a nickname like that."

Gojyo weighed up his options to answer that question, wondering if his new friend was going to run a mile or not. _'I can tell him the truth…or I can lie and say it really is just a nickname…Ah, fuck it, no use hiding it for too long.'_

"Ha ha, well about that…I kinda really am a kappa. Well, half-kappa. The old man slept with a human and nine months later I appeared, complete with these damned eyes and hair." He made sure to keep his tone level, trying not to seem anxious about how Yohji would react. His posture, though relaxed on the surface, was made up of tense muscles and a pounding heart. _'Why the fuck does this one guy's opinion matter to me so much?'_

The look of disbelief was back on the younger man's face, and Gojyo watched fingers go directly to a pocket; he could've done with a cigarette at that moment as well. Patting down his jacket, he realised with dismay that he'd left his pack at the hotel. He decided that his body would have to settle for just caffeine, and took a sip from his drink, eyes flicking off to the side as Yohji's lack of response continued to unnerve him.

Yohji drew off his cigarette, hiding his thoughts behind a mask of scepticism as his mind raced, going through the stories he'd heard about China and its…mixed population. _'Kappa…water demon…__Youkai__…I knew that there was some of these guys in China and India, but I don't think I've ever actually met a goddamned demon…he's not lying to me either…but why does he look so __human__…aren't Youkai supposed to have pointy ears, big claws, shit like that?'_

It was that last thought he put into words, his curiosity overruling any anxiety he had about being with…having slept with something that wasn't human. "Uh, so, correct me if I'm wrong, but…why don't you have evil claws, pointy teeth, crazy ears, y'know, that kinda stuff?"

Gojyo was so struck by the slight innocence that Yohji's face seemed to radiate when he was truly confused that the words didn't immediately sink in. When they did, he voiced the first thing that came to mind, rather than answering the question. "So…you believe me? I mean…really?" His voice wavered slightly, much to Gojyo's dismay. He wasn't looking so cool and collected to his human friend anymore.

"Well, yeah, I do. I know when people are lying to me; it's a skill I picked up when I was a detective." Now it was Gojyo's turn to look incredulous, trying to imagine the blonde as a film noir-style private investigator and eventually finding that the pieces did actually fit. "Yeah, before I was in Weiss, I was a detective. Well, not just any old detective, I really was the best detective. We made a great team, me and…Um…yeah." He didn't want to mention Asuka. It caused too much pain and sorrow, grief and regret…

He was grateful when Gojyo immediately turned the conversation back to his heritage, knowing that the man witnessed his slip and wondering what, exactly, he made of it.

"Anyway, yeah, Youkai usually do have those things, as well as these massive birthmarks that can go all over their body, even on their…" He stopped and cleared his throat, not sure if Hakkai would be okay with a man who was essentially a stranger knowing the finer points about his unrestrained body. "I don't have 'em because I'm a half-breed, like I said before. Back in China, it's not really the done thing to have mixed kids. My mother was my dad's human mistress, so I'm guessing that they weren't really planning on popping one out, and she died having me…But, uh, the 'Children of Taboo', as they call us, all have this red colour for our hair and eyes. A quirk of nature, I guess, or some sort of tool to allow the rest of the world to know that we're…freaks." Gojyo hadn't planned on the notes of bitterness and sadness that crept into his voice, and he had to turn his head away from the emerald gaze of the man sitting across from him.

He also hadn't planned on the leg that pressed against his own, sending heat through his body to pool somewhere in his lower stomach area. Yohji leant forward, resting his arms over the table and losing the devil-may-care look he usually wore. "I…I can't say that I know what that's like…but I'm the bastard child of an American man and a Japanese woman, abandoned by him and looked down upon by her family for not being 'pure'. But one thing that years of being different taught me was…that just because something's taboo, it's not necessarily bad…I mean, look at you. If some sort of forbidden union created something this gorgeous, it can't be totally wrong, right?" The smirk was back on Yohji's face, his words an attempt to lighten to mood once again.

The redhead suddenly wondered when he'd decided to spill his life story to Yohji, a story that Hakkai hadn't heard until they'd lived together for a month. There was something about the man's face when he dropped his mask that was just…inviting. His attention flowed back to the connection at their calves, memories of the previous night slamming through to overtake the sudden sadness in his mind. A soft smile crossed Gojyo's face, both from the other man's casual acceptance of his non-humanity and his words about taboo.

Yohji saw the change in Gojyo, from discomfort to relief, and decided to keep up with his questioning. "Okay, so I won't keep the Spanish Inquisition going that much longer, but there're just a couple more things I wanna know. I promise that I'll try not to get so heavy again, okay?"

Gojyo took another sip from his drink, made a face at its tepid liquid, and nodded for Yohji to ask away.

"Alright, so, the other guys in your team: are they human?"

"Well, they do a pretty good job of hiding it, but Hakkai's actually a vine demon or something like that. And Goku…well, Goku's definitely not human, but he's a damn sight crazier than any other Youkai I've ever seen." Before Yohji could ask, Gojyo filled in the blanks. "Did y'see that band thing around the monkey's head? It keeps him in human form; a power limiter. When it comes off, the teeth and claws appear. It's pretty awesome…until he starts tearing the living fuck outta everything around him. Hakkai has little ear cuff things that do the same. They're totally badass, but incredibly dangerous."

Sitting back again, Yohji tried to process the information he'd just been given. _'The new guys…they aren't human…even that really quiet, polite dude…wow, just…wow. Hang on…'_

"So, uh, what about Priest Transvestite? Does he have a crazy alter-ego too?" Gojyo couldn't help but snicker, both at the new nickname and the Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde insinuations. He almost wanted Yohji to call Sanzo that to his face; he thought that the bitchy priest might just head-splode from anger.

"Nope, Baldy is…well, I dunno if you'd really call him human, 'cause I'm fairly certain that he doesn't have emotions, but his parents, at least, were totally human. Anyway, enough about me and my infinitely attractive band of brothers; what about your team of pretty boys? Isn't that Omi kid like…twelve, and he's your LEADER?" Gojyo could not imagine, no matter how hard he tried, that innocent, blue-eyed child actually killing someone.

Yohji, on the other hand, was used to people doubting Omi. The chibi was just too damned cute for his own good. "Actually, he's been in Weiss longer than any of us. He was raised by Persia- our boss- and is really seventeen. I know that he doesn't look it, but he does everything that the rest of us do." Making eye contact to ensure that the significance was being transmitted, Yohji reiterated his last point with a meaningful "Everything."

Whistling in disbelief, Gojyo found himself wondering how someone so young and…angelic-looking became an assassin. He was nearly caught off guard by the question sent his way.

"That Goku kid can't be that much older than Omi, anyway. I thought you'd understand how he can…do what we do?" Gojyo almost laughed at Yohji's lack of knowledge about Goku, but decided that it probably wasn't the best thing he could do. So instead, he answered with the truth.

"Oh, don't be fooled; the monkey looks like an eighteen-year-old and acts like a small, slightly retarded child, but he hasn't been a teenager for a long time. Like, a several-hundred-years-type long time. Goku's five hundred and eighteen years old."

Yohji promptly fell off his chair and onto the polished wood café floor.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the kitchen behind the Koneko storefront, the other pair of redhead and blonde were having a glower competition. They were both carefully avoiding eye contact, but the terrifying looks directed at the walls of the room seemed to be desperately trying to outdo each other. The two were alone in the room, Hakkai and Omi having taken their conversation elsewhere, and Sanzo snapping at a fidgeting Goku to "Leave us the fuck in peace, dimwit!" Aya had seen Ken leave at the same time, saying something about teaching the energetic child to play football.

Although silence was nothing unusual for either man, Aya felt an urge to break the quiet, to clarify a detail about the unknown man. His deep voice rumbled around the hushed room. "You are a Sanzo priest?"

Aya spoke without turning to look at Sanzo, and the blonde replied without changing his posture or expression. "What of it?"

The second voice was fraught with the promise of death, a tone that Aya recognised and respected as one he often used on others. He felt no intimidation, though; merely the feeling that he and this holy man were very similar, in both personality and motivation. He had the aura of a man hell bent on revenge, just as Aya lived and killed for the single aim of a chance at Takatori.

"Hn. You keep a tight reign over your team."

"Ch."

The sound of the redhead's voice had startled Sanzo out of his introspection, but he wasn't angry at the interruption like he should have been. The discrepancy unnerved him somewhat, and so he compensated by making his voice frostier than the situation called for.

Sanzo wasn't entirely surprised when the man sitting at the other end of the dining table didn't lose his voice to fear. From what he'd gathered, this Weiss member was one he could co-exist with quite easily. The tall blonde was vacuous; the small one was naïve and entirely over-energetic; the brunette was unrefined; but the fourth man…he was silent, guarded, unemotional and certainly deadly. Everything that Sanzo considered himself to be.

If he hadn't been looking from the corner of his eye, the priest would have missed Aya rising and moving to the corner of the room, as his movements were silent and designed to attract as little attention as possible. A dull 'thwack' sound passed through the room, and Sanzo glanced down to see a newspaper settling against the table before him.

Gaze flicking back up, he saw the redhead sit down with a different newspaper, coincidently the one Sanzo had already read that day. Both men pulled out their reading glasses and the room descended into silence once more, with only the sound of rustling paper occasionally puncturing the blissful silence.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I know that you aren't the leader of your team, but it seemed to me that I should talk to you about some details of this arrangement." Omi and Hakkai had moved into the living room, not wanting to disturb volatile teammates with conversation, however quiet their words remained.

The older man had to quirk his lips slightly in a genuine smile at the boy's words. He was resigned to being the perpetually 'forgotten' member of their team; the attention of other people was generally drawn to the terrifying and dangerous priest, the stunning and flirtatious kappa, or the distracting monkey. Hakkai, with his politely quiet air, did not draw attention; but he preferred it this way. He could understand, though, why Omi would rather speak to him than the real team leader.

"Certainly, I don't mind. Sanzo can be somewhat…overwhelming, and he doesn't tend to be forthcoming with conversation. I'll do my best to put your mind at ease about whatever I have to." His lips had melted back into his usual smile, but the cold edge was not in Hakkai's eyes; a rare occurrence. Although Omi didn't realise it, his presence was drawing authentic emotion from Hakkai, with the way he could be a true child and a mature adult almost simultaneously.

"Thankyou, Hakkai-san. I just thought that I'd make it clear that you, any of you, are welcome here anytime, not just to get missions or medical treatment. Even if it's stopping by for proper meals, or for a bed that isn't hotel-issue, we open our house to you. Well…I do. I'm sure that Ken won't have a problem, and I can't see Yohji complaining about having a certain member of your team around. And Aya…Aya seems very similar to your leader, so don't mind him. I'm sure you know what to expect there."

Omi spoke the truth, perfectly willing to help out the organisation that had raised him in any way he could. From his point of view, the Ikkou team would perfectly complement Weiss. Hakkai decided to stay quiet about the fact that needing medical treatment would be unnecessary; he didn't feel it would productive to mention his Youkai powers.

"Ah, I believe I speak for my entire group when I say that we'll be entirely in your debt very soon. But please, simply call me Hakkai. Everyone else does. Is there something that we can do for you to help repay your generosity?"

Thinking for a moment, Omi considered Hakkai's offer. He didn't want to appear impolite, but…"If it's not too much to ask, on rare occasions one or some of you might happen to be around when we need a minute or two of assistance in our shop. Nothing too difficult, I promise; but if you wouldn't mind, we'd be very appreciative if your team could help out."

Hakkai laughed to himself, imagining Sanzo and Goku working in a store. _'The poor customers would be terrified and the amount of damaged stock would skyrocket…but it is the least we can do.'_

"Yes, I think that we can manage that. If you ever need something else, feel free to ask and I will do my best to help you."

Omi suddenly remembered a vitally important detail that he had to mention; it would be very dangerous to let this unsuspecting Ikkou into the flower shop without first explaining the very real danger posed to the rather good-looking men. "Ah…one small thing…we tend to have a certain group of schoolgirls who flock the store before and after their classes, and they can get rather…clingy around attractive males. They'll definitely react to your team, and I just don't wish for you to walk into the battlefield blind. They are loud and imposing, but essentially harmless; it's just good to be on your guard around them."

Hakkai broke into a larger smile than any Omi had seen him make, and his voice was good-humoured as he assured the younger man that he understood. However, the slightly malicious glint that Omi caught flashing though his uncovered eye made the Weiss member believe that three of the Chinese team would be coming into the store, without any form of warning, sometime very soon.

* * *

When the blonde in the robes had snapped at Goku, sending him from the room with a dejected look on his face, Ken had felt his heart melt for the poor kid. He hated people like Sanzo, who could somehow be angry around energy-filled little tackers like the brunette. Ken always had a problem with Omi; if those eyes were turned towards him, saying 'no' wasn't an option.

So he'd decided, what with the liveliness that Goku showed, to ask if the kid wanted to kick a football around. When the gold eyes had been turned up towards him in confusion, Ken had made it his aim to teach Goku how to kick ass at the sport. Years of training other children had taught him when there was potential to be found; and the smallest Ikkou member was practically radiating it. So he'd led the way to the park down the street, stopping to grab a football and a couple of training cones.

Ken didn't bother explaining the actual game, instead starting out with simple kick-to-kick. When Goku had taken to that like a fish to water, he'd continually upped the difficulty, Goku mastering each skill in no time. The taller man was amazed; natural talent like this was very rare.

There was little conversation that passed between the two beyond instructions and encouragement, the sport providing enough of a bonding tool between them. Soon enough, they managed to pick up some extra people, and a relaxed, impromptu game was set up in the middle of the park. Ken found himself in constant awe of Goku's skills, unable to believe that the kid hadn't known what football was just a couple of hours ago, yet playing like he'd been trained for years.

Well into the afternoon, their game continued, the park filling with good-natured shouts as the game grew in size. Goku was hyperactive and happy, not even thinking about food or anything else as he concentrated on the new game he'd just been taught. The competition was similar to a fight, but without the anger and the danger; he knew that he'd have to ask Ken to play again sometime.

"Yo, monkey, have you picked up some new skills since I left? Didn't know that you could get shit like that through your thick skull in such a short amount of time!" The familiar voice floated across the makeshift pitch and Goku looked over to see Gojyo and Yohji standing off to the side, smoking like chimneys and both smiling cheekily.

Ken also heard the yell, starting to run over to the pair and gesturing for Goku to follow. The four men stood together momentarily before turning to walk back to the Koneko. "Hang on, Ken, don'tcha want your football?" Goku started to turn back before Ken's voice stopped him.

"Nah, it's all good, they can keep it. I've got plenty back home; I can live without one." Goku shrugged and turned again, while Yohji made a comment about Ken and playing with balls. Snorting with laughter, Ken replied that Yohji seemed to be the expert on that sort of thing, and the group walked back to the Koneko, bickering and joking between themselves.

-TBC-


	3. Chapter 3

*******Warning: I'm about to bastardize some of "Mission 8: Raubtier", and so a general idea of what happens in that episode would probably be handy. But I'm also not sticking to the canon timeline at this point…it's an AU-type dealio!*******

* * *

The fangirls: quite possibly the most exasperating part of having to work as a florist, in Aya's opinion. Their shrill voices and idiotic ideas…Aya couldn't remember his sister ever acting like that, and she was the same age as many of the banshees who flocked the store…

Immediately moving his mind on before the image of his sister hurt any further, Aya looked at the clock hanging from the wall. Closing time wasn't for over an hour, and surely another influx of shrieking girls would be in before then, just to get in the way and never buy a thing. He was glad, though, that the store was in a rare moment of peace, the four Weiss men and Momoe able to get some coffee into their bodies to strengthen them for the ordeal ahead.

The bell above the door chimed, and Aya groaned internally. '_It begins…'_

Aya could honestly say that he'd never been prayed to before. Men had prayed to their useless gods as he stood over them with sword in hand, but they'd never treated him as a god. The two brats currently asking for better grades made him wish that he did have his sword with him; but apparently, using violence on little girls was frowned upon. He settled for telling them to get out, his mood darkening with every moment that they stood there.

The door swung shut as the girls hastily retreated, but before it clicked back into place the bell was ringing again and a single man stepped into the store. '_Fantastic, just what I need…Chinese Yohji's come to brighten our lives.' _It had been three days since Weiss and the Ikkou had been introduced, but Aya had only laid eyes on the tall redhead during that time. The other three were not particularly missed in their absence, and the swordsman wished that their fourth would stay with the rest of his team. Watching him and Yohji flirt nearly made Aya nauseous, for reasons he would rather not dissect.

"Afternoon, boys! How come you never told me you were gods? I could've been praying for Sanzo to fall off his high horse and hurt something important, if only I'd known."

This time, Aya voiced his annoyed sigh loudly, not that it fazed any of the others in the room. It was bad enough that Gojyo was hanging around again, but he seemed to have brought with him the entire fangirl population. And, just as would be expected from them, the questions were beginning to fly.

"Who's this guy? He's sooo gorgeous!"

"Look at that hair, it's amazing!"

"Is he related to you, Aya?"

"Has he started working here? What's your name?"

"What's your favourite flower? Your blood type?"

"Who's prettier, me or her? It's me, right?"

"Will you come to my birthday? It's next week!"

Omi, hanging up the phone from a customer enquiry, shook his head. '_I was definitely right when I thought that Hakkai wasn't gonna tell his teammates about the girls. Poor Gojyo looks like he wants to hide!'_

He was covering it well, but Omi would see the shock running through Gojyo's body. Assassin's instincts were trying to kick in, and he was desperately suppressing them to avoid causing a scene. Turning around to send Gojyo to the back of the shop, compassion rising and making him want to save the poor man, Omi stopped when he saw a third redhead step into the store. Three of the other four men in the room noticed his pause, and all subtly glanced around to see why. The last man was still trying to keep up with the ridiculous questions and grasping hands being sent his way, and failing miserably.

"Ladies, ladies, please, let Momoe here deal with all your flower needs. Later!" Yohji's casual dismissal caused many of the girls to sigh and beg dramatically, and a few more to grab tighter onto Gojyo's arms, trying to keep him in place. He tried to shake them loose without hurting anyone, but eventually just gave up and gave one good wrench to get himself free. Manx, unnoticed in the chaos of the store, slipped out the back door, followed by Weiss and Gojyo.

As unflappable as always, Momoe stepped in to serve and the girl population began to dissipate.

* * *

The dark form of Persia lit up the wall, sent from the projector to address the men in the room.

"Hello Weiss. You have a new mission. The man, who killed two men last night, had altered DNA and had become a monster. Hunters of the Night, deny the tomorrows of the evil beasts who change humans into monsters."

The video flickered off, leaving four very confused assassins and one incredibly disgusted half-Youkai, all gaping at the composed woman standing by the stairs. She took their silence as the cue to speak. "Now, there is a very specific reason why I brought one of the Ikkou here with me today. The details of this mission involve some…sensitive information, and they have a lot more knowledge in this area than you do."

"Then why do we have to handle this? Can't they just take care of it?" Ken's question had definite merit, and Omi found himself nodding in agreement. There was something about getting so little mission information that sent a slight feeling of dread through him.

"No. Kritiker decided that Weiss would get this mission. Here's the data on the man, or monster, that was shot. So, who's in?" Manx had a clear tone of irritation in her voice, as she did whenever orders were questioned.

Aya, standing against the wall of the mission room, was only half listening to the protests of his team. _'Idiots…we do what we have to, in order to get paid. Not knowing every detail of the target's life just makes it easier.' _Pushing off from his position, he walked over to Manx, snatching the mission folder from her manicured hands. A crimson eyebrow rose as he saw just how little they'd been provided with; something was being kept from them, Aya knew it.

"This is all we get, even with Kritiker?" The challenging note in his voice was clear.

"…Yes. Well, that and the information that Gojyo will provide you with; but I'm leaving that to him. Those are all of our hardcopy notes." Manx replied with a tone that matched Aya's, daring him to decline the mission and the money it would provide towards his sister's hospital bills.

"Really?" Aya refused to simply give in to the woman. At least a token protest was required, to make her think that maybe he wasn't going to accept the vague job. Aya might have been made Kritiker's dog, but he hadn't been trained to stop barking.

"Why shouldn't we give you all the information at our disposal?" Still, despite the secretary's words, Aya was not convinced that the thin folder was all Kritiker could dig up on their target. At times the organisation seemed almost omniscient, so why were they acting so clueless now? Giving up, he put that particular puzzle aside for later.

"Fine. I'm in." He moved away with the folder, barely focusing on anything other than the words printed there. The others would fall in line; they almost always did. _'Except when Yohji's on one of his ridiculous "I'll only save women" trips. What a prat.'_

He finished the folder in record time, throwing it down onto the table taking up the middle of the room. Walking over to where the Chinese agent sat, still displaying a look of disgust on his tanned features, Aya demanded to know more.

"You're here for a purpose. So tell me what you know. And don't even think about lighting that."

* * *

Gojyo was so shocked by the sudden outburst that his fingers naturally pulled away from the cigarette pack in his pocket. His lips twisted into a sneer, not that it affected the standing man. '_Goddamn, but this is one fuckin' stuck-up prick. It's just like dealing with Sanzo…but, then again, at least Priesty lets me have a smoke.'_

With those initial thoughts out of his head, Gojyo immediately returned to what he'd previously been considering. The images he saw on the wall…that dead guy was a Youkai, there was no doubt in his mind. _'But that man, Persia…what did he mean by altered DNA? Oh, no…'_

When Gojyo stood up, Aya didn't move. The men stared each other down before Gojyo cracked a smile, stepping around the scowling swordsman and stretching his arms out above his head. He winked at Manx and ignored the quiet sound of disgust she let out. "Well, Little Miss Red Riding Hood, I gotta talk to Hakkai about some shit. I'll be back to fill these guys in later. Don't miss me too much!"

He decided that a quick exit was the best thing he could do, as the secretary looked murderous and the Weiss men seemed ready to start on a large string of questions. He moved up the stairs, only stopping when he was halfway up to turn back to the room's occupants.

"Oi, Gorgeous, let's go get tanked tonight! You owe me, after not warning me about those fucking girls. Later!" He continued his exit when Yohji made a sound of agreement, thinking over everything he had seen on the screen from the ridiculously dramatic shadow-man.

* * *

Gojyo didn't bother knocking when he entered Hakkai's hotel room; living and sleeping together meant that the redhead felt no need for privacy with the healer. He was immediately glad that he hadn't warned Hakkai of his impending entry, as his first sight upon walking into the room was the other man unbuttoning his shirt and exposing subtle muscles. Gojyo saw the body tense when the door swung open, and relax again when a wolfwhistle pierced through the room.

"Now that's how you welcome a guy back! Y'know Kai, I vote that you stop wearing clothes altogether. I'm sure those girls in the flowershop would agree." The figurative lightbulb went off when Hakkai, now completely liberated of his shirt thanks to an extra pair of helping hands, had the decency to blush slightly at Gojyo's words.

"Wait, what the fuck? You knew about those little head cases? Kai, you bastard! Good thing you're pretty, otherwise I'd kick your ass for willingly subjecting me to that!"

"Ah, yes, Gojyo, I knew. I would have warned you, but I…" The words mutated into a sigh when long fingers began to dance down the bare torso, tracing lines running underneath the white flesh.

"Well, I'm sure you had reasons, probably ones that involved getting me back over something, and I'm also sure that you can make it up to me, hmm?" The kappa gripped Hakkai's hips, pulling their bodies closer and capturing pink lips in a gentle kiss.

A small voice in Gojyo's head was reminding him that he went to the hotel for a reason, and that reason wasn't a quickie, but the minority was thoroughly beaten into submission by a large and insatiable sex drive. Taking his lips from Hakkai's, he began to suck on the other man's neck, raising a mark that wouldn't bruise, but would colour slightly for a while. Steady hands pushed his vest from his arms, and Gojyo reluctantly released his hold on Hakkai so that he could grip the hem of his black tank and pull it over his head.

Shaking messy hair from his eyes, Gojyo leered at his friend and looked around the room. "So, why exactly were you getting naked when I busted in? I'm guessing that you weren't expecting me, as much as I'd love for you to have a sixth sense about that sorta shit."

He'd seen it before, but Gojyo was always amazed when Hakkai actually smirked. The look always made him privately wonder why the only woman Hakkai had ever caught was his goddamned sister; but he didn't particularly like to stay on that train of thought for long.

"Actually, I was about to take a shower and," Hakkai extended his hand to Gojyo, "I'm guessing that you've just invited yourself along."

Mimicking a flattered woman, Gojyo delicately twisted his fingers into the brunette's, pretending to blush and giggle. Hakkai let out a few laughs, his equivalent of a chuckling fit, and pulled the redhead towards him while stepping back to open the bathroom door.

Removing his hand from Hakkai's and lowering it to the button on the man's pants, Gojyo grinned. "Guess you won't be needing these, then!"

Gojyo flicked the button open and drew down the fly, taking longer than was strictly necessary and making sure that he copped a good feel along the way. He was vaguely disappointed to note that Hakkai was wearing underwear; Gojyo didn't care for it himself, and found it ridiculously sexy whenever his partners did the same. On rare occasions the brunette was known to go without, and from previous experience Gojyo knew that this was a sign of imminent kinky, dirty sex.

But Hell, if a shower fuck was all he was going to get, Gojyo wasn't about to complain. Water, at least in smallish amounts, was his natural element after all.

* * *

It was only when he flopped down on the couch, still naked and towelling his hair as he hung his head off the side of the cushions, that Gojyo recalled what he wanted to ask Hakkai. He immediately sat up and located his pants, deciding that a serious discussion probably wasn't best conducted while his cock was out.

The action gained him an odd look from Hakkai, the one usually first to redress but who was still only wearing a towel. Gojyo thought he'd better explain himself before the sight of moisture trailing down that body distracted him.

"Anyway, after that little interlude, I actually have some stuff I need to ask you. So, ah, s'much as I hate to say it, you might wanna chuck some underwear on before I lose my thoughts again and have to ravish you." Hakkai simply shrugged at the suggestion and accepted the garment that was being held out to him, shaking the material out and stepping into it. A small sigh escaped Gojyo when the brunette's manhood was covered, but he shook himself ever so slightly and put his mind back on track. _'Right, man-made Youkai. This is important shit.'_

"So, I know you, you're probably wondering why I'm not currently tackling you into this bed, and also why Manx wanted one of us to go see Weiss. They're actually connected. Y'see, Yohji and the others are being sent after some guys that are responsible for a bunch of deaths lately. The reason I was sent over, and I'm still not one hundred percent on this, was probably to do with what happened to the victims."

Hakkai nodded, to show that he was following, and Gojyo took a deep breath. "The point is, these targets that Weiss are hunting…I'm almost positive that they've figured out some way to turn normal humans into Youkai."

Gojyo watched his friend's head tilt slightly to the side, recognising this as what happened whenever Hakkai needed to run through a lot of thoughts very quickly. He stood in silence, waiting for the healer to speak and give his opinion on the revelation.

"Firstly, tell me what you were told. How do you know that the man was a human or a Youkai?"

"There were pictures of the dead guy, in an alley…he was definitely a demon at the end. But the dude in charge, uh, Persia, said that the dude had altered DNA," Gojyo cleared his throat and dropped his voice in a fairly weak imitation, "and had become a monster. Really, it seems pretty clear to me that some sick assholes have figured out the genetic differences between us and them. I mean, we all know that it's possible for humans to turn into Youkai."

The flash of pain that crossed Hakkai's face made Gojyo regret his flippant attitude. He hated reminding the brunette of his past, of how life had been for Cho Gonou. Most of all, though, he hated it when he stupidly brought up how the human Gonou had slaughtered a thousand Youkai and become one himself. It was a reflex action for him to put his long arms around the half-blind man, and temporary quiet descended upon the hotel room once again while the men stood, joined and unmoving.

As if snapping himself out of a trance, Hakkai eventually stepped away from the lose hold around his shoulders, absentmindedly plucking lint off the pants he hadn't yet put back on. "Sorry, Gojyo, I suppose it's all the rain they've been having here…As you were saying, you believe that a group has discovered how to alter genetics?"

Gojyo, used to the abrupt subject changes that his friend constantly made, tried to remember exactly what he was supposed to be doing…

"Umm…Oh, yeah, right! That's what I needed to ask you. Have you ever heard of this being a possibility, with drugs or something? Because I have to go back soon and tell 'em whether or not it really was a Youkai that died." A sudden chill through the room had Gojyo wrapping his arms across his bare chest. Hakkai didn't seem to notice the temperature drop, as deep in thought as he was.

"…Ah, I can't conclusively say, but I do think that I've heard similar stories about drugs that can somehow alter a human's DNA…it's possible, though not entirely probable, that these people actually are making Youkai, or at least something very similar."

Hakkai looked satisfied with his own explanation, and the redhead nodded, beginning to search for his shirts at the same time. "Well then, guess I'll head back over and fill in what they need to know. Hey, Kai…should I tell them…about us? I mean, about what we are?"

That question had been weighing upon Gojyo's mind, because he thought the other men might not take the news as easily as Yohji had. He wanted a second opinion; Hakkai was the only Ikkou member that he could ask. The brunette showed no change in his expression, a gentle smiling still playing over his lips. "Well, I suppose that it's only polite…I don't see the harm in telling them now, it's going to come out sooner or later. We don't want to seem like we're hiding secrets, now do we?"

A weight lifted off Gojyo's shoulders was immediately replaced by a new one; just how to broach the subject with Weiss. _'Oh, fuck it; we'll just see if it comes up naturally. No point in pushing too hard.'_

"Well, now that's settled, I'd better get dressed, sad as that prospect is. I'm going out with Yohji after I tell 'em what you said, and shit's probably gonna get wild…you wanna come, Kai?" The kappa's mind was running with the possibilities of what he could do with two gorgeous men at his side. Unluckily for him, though, Hakkai was also tuned into his devious plan.

"No thankyou, Gojyo…I had better inform Sanzo of what you told me. Go, have fun." Hakkai was in no mood to fend off two probably horny, definitely drunk men; he didn't trust the tall blonde enough to get himself into that sort of situation…_'Yet.'_

Shrugging, Gojyo collected up his shirts from the floor, looked at them, and decided not to bother. Walking to Hakkai, he planted a kiss on the man's lips before spinning off and out the door, back to his own room and his wardrobe.

Leaving Hakkai's room, Gojyo came to a halt when he saw Sanzo standing across the hall, in front of his own open door. A glare formed on the priest's face, though Gojyo couldn't help but notice that the angry look took a few seconds more to appear than it usually did. So, naturally, the redhead had to comment.

"Oh, didn't you hear, Baldy? It's 'Go Shirtless Day', so ditch the robes and let us all bask in your ab-tastic glory! Or are you getting fat from sitting on your ass and never helping, hmm?"

It was second nature for Yohji to rag on Sanzo now, not that he'd really tried to be any other way from the very beginning. It was fun for the younger man to see how far he could push before the gun appeared, although he really was more interested in encountering the blonde's other 'weapon'. He might possibly have even had a fantasy or two based around that theme…maybe.

Sanzo simply let out a disgusted sigh, and as he turned to keep walking Gojyo found himself thinking, _'What is __**with**__ him and that redheaded guy? All they do is sigh and grunt. Bastards!'_

He only just caught the movement of white and black from the corner of his eye as he spun. By the time the image registered and he moved back to face Sanzo, the blonde already had his robes hanging around his waist, and was beginning to lift his soft black undershirt.

Pale abdominal muscles exposed, Sanzo waited for Gojyo's eyes to stop spinning around in his head. Pointing to his stomach, the blonde addressed Gojyo in his usual apathetic-yet-angry tone. "Fucking idiot. Does this look like someone getting fat to you? I didn't realise you were that stupid."

Gojyo was still standing in the hall, speechless, until the priest had rolled down his shirt and pulled his robe back over his shoulders. It was only after Sanzo was fully dressed again that a reply crept into Gojyo's mind, finally breaking through the shock he felt from what the blonde had just done. Of all the things Sanzo could have done, undressing in the hallway was the last thing that Gojyo expected.

"Well, uh…Oh! That sounded pretty vain, priest-man. I thought you had to stop acting like that when you got your fancy bit of magic paper." Gojyo was almost proud of himself for thinking up words to say. He'd obviously seen Sanzo's stomach before, had made a ridiculous amount of jokes about it being white enough to blind an unsuspecting person, in fact. '_So why is today…so different? He shouldn't be able to knock me speechless like that…Shiiiittt…'_

Sanzo grunted again. "Maybe you are that stupid. Why would that be the one Buddhist rule I stick to? I drink, I smoke, I eat meat, I kill and I fuck. A little vanity means nothing." Following his words, Sanzo turned back into his room, nearly slamming the door off its hinges in the process.

Gojyo watched this happen, but none of it registered.

Running around his head was a trio of words in a continuous loop. _'And I fuck…and I fuck…and I fuck…' _This was news to Gojyo. He wanted to know who. He wanted to know when. He wanted to know how he missed that fact. And, most of all, he wanted to know when it would be his turn.

* * *

Sanzo smiled when he was alone in his room. It wasn't often that he truly got the upper hand over the kappa, at least without using his gun or his fan. It felt good.

And, as an added bonus, Sanzo could now say with complete certainty that the redhead wanted him. The look of lust in the idiot's eyes practically screamed that fact, the one that was pretty much always there whenever Gojyo thought that Sanzo couldn't see him. The look had come back a million times stronger in the hallway; life was looking up for Genjyo Sanzo, even if he was stuck working in some crazy-assed country.

The smile immediately disappeared when a knock sounded on the hotel door. _'Please, let the monkey still be preoccupied elsewhere…'_

"Sanzo? Sanzo, there's something quite important that I have to discuss with you. Can I come in?" Hakkai's measured voice wasn't entirely welcome to the priest's ears, but it was better than Goku's irritating whine, at least. Sanzo made a fairly noncommittal noise, but he carefully schooled his face to show no traces of the amusement he was still feeling from dealing with Gojyo.

The door cracked open, Hakkai checking to make sure that he wasn't going to get shot, and then swung fully inwards. The brunette stepped almost silently into the room, with none of the racket that usually accompanied either of the other two Ikkou members. Sanzo almost liked Hakkai, simply for being outwardly unassuming…

"Gojyo came to tell me about a mission that Weiss have been given. He thinks that…someone has been creating Youkai from humans, using some sort of drug or science."

"What would that dickhead know? Do you actually think that he might be right, Hakkai?"

The healer thought for a moment, considering all of his possible answers. "…Yes. I think that he's at least mostly right. He saw photos of a victim; I believe Gojyo when he says that he saw a Youkai in the picture. We don't know if the victim actually was a human beforehand."

With an impatient sigh, Sanzo dropped back onto the lounge chair sitting behind him. He didn't particularly feel like dealing with people right now. "I fail to see what this has to do with me. You two work on it."

Hakkai didn't know the meaning of the word 'impatient'. Still smiling blankly, he continued as if Sanzo hadn't just tried to dismiss him. "Well, Sanzo, the part that I'm unsure about is how they managed the transformation. Placing a man in a gauntlet or something with one thousand Youkai seems awfully problematic. Gojyo said that Kritiker seems to think that it's done with drugs. I think that it's a mixture of human science and Youkai magic."

Sanzo reached into the sleeve of his robe, drawing out a pack of cigarettes. Picking one out and lighting it, he made sure to blow to smoke in Hakkai's general direction. _'If this doesn't get rid of him, nothing will.'_

Hakkai simply waved the smoke away from his face, expression never faulting. He knew that Sanzo would want to hear what he had to say, even if the priest, the oldest man of the group, was currently acting like a petulant child. "In particular, I think that they may be using the power of one or more sutras. Sanzo, it's possible that they have your Seiten sutra."

That little bombshell immediately caught Sanzo's wandering attention. He leant forward, resting his arms across his knees.

"Hakkai, tell me now and make it quick, what exactly makes you think that?"

* * *

"Awesome stir-fry, Ken! Much better than Yohji's last attempt..." Omi made a face at the thought of the tall man's previous culinary 'masterpiece'. The comment earned him a screwed up piece of paper to the forehead, Yohji using rubbish from his pocket to make a missile. Omi simply shrugged and kept eating, not wanting to start a food fight and have to waste the meal.

"It's the sorta skill you pick up when you wanna eat all the time!" Ken laughed, getting him some paper to the face as well. Yohji pouted and began to eat, all out of makeshift projectiles. To his left, at the head of the table, Aya stayed as silent as usual. There was no chance of Yohji riling Aya when he was holding eating implements of any kind; eye-removal surgery performed with chopsticks was not something the blonde felt like going through.

Omi had a piece of beef raised halfway towards his mouth when the kitchen door burst open with a resounding '**bang**'. The food continued to float somewhere above the table as he, and the other three in the room, all looked straight to the source of the commotion.

In the open doorway, a white-robed man stood with his arms crossed over his chest. Omi, Ken and Yohji continued to stare; Aya lowered his gaze and went back to eating.

"Tell me everything that you know about the bastards running those experiments." The voice that rang out wasn't about to be argued with, because Sanzo wanted answers. _'If they have information on the location of my master's missing sutra…'_

Yohji leant back from his seat, grabbing the thin folder from the bench. He threw it in the direction of the door, unintentionally sending it spinning directly for the intruder's face. A delicate-fingered hand stretched out, snatching the folder in mid-air before it took out an eye.

Sanzo flipped through the sheets, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. "This is all you have? Your employer is a fucking joke."

Silence still greeted the Chinese man, until it was broken by a deep voice. "They're hiding something from us. Apparently, your little pest of a teammate was supposed to have more information." Aya sounded bored but slightly irritated. He still thought that something was wrong with the entire mission, and he was determined to find out what it was.

"Ch. He might be back in a few hours, if you're lucky. I suggest holding your breath until he shows."

Aya pushed his chair back with a screech, stepping to the sink and rinsing his plate. Without turning back towards the door, he raised his hand above his shoulder and beckoned to the other standing figure. He walked towards the opposite door, in the direction of the living room.

"Well then, I suppose that you'll have to do. Tell me what you know. I have a theory."

The pair promptly left the room, and the three men still sitting at the table simply looked at each other, wondering if Hell had just frozen over. They'd need to have their ice skates packed, if it had.


	4. Chapter 4

Aya stalked into the living room and placed himself into a lounge chair, Sanzo following and sitting opposite. The men simply looked at each other, as if sizing up a rival in some sort of competition. When stares locked together, Aya couldn't help but be struck by how similar the eyes set into the blonde's face were to his own; not just in their unusual colour, but in the detached, deadly gleam that lurked just where most people wouldn't have been able to catch it.

Sanzo was first to break the not-quite-comfortable silence. "For once, the idiot was right. Your victim's a Youkai, not just a mutation."

"You're positive?" Aya knew that Youkai existed, not that he'd ever seen any in reality. He was simply unsure about how one would end up in Japan, dead in an alleyway.

"Would I have said it if I wasn't? It says here that the victim was originally human. Do you have any proof of that?" Used to dealing with his own team, Sanzo couldn't help but snap. His tone wasn't anywhere near its usual level of venom, though; something about the man sitting opposite defused his usual angry attitude.

Aya considered, and then spoke in his deep, measured tone. "Not as yet. Omi is going to run a DNA sample, then we'll see."

Thinking hard, Sanzo subconsciously moved his hand into his sleeve, bringing out a half-empty pack of cigarettes. Placing one between his lips, he looked up to see Aya watching him intently. When the pack was extended towards him, Aya raised his palm in refusal with a slight flash of disgust, but then pushed his hand between the chair cushion and frame, where he knew Yohji 'secretly' hid an ashtray. Gently throwing the heavy dish across the room, it occurred to Aya that he'd often threatened to behead Yohji for doing the exact same thing that Sanzo currently was. Only this time, he really didn't see a need to care about the smoke.

It was only when Sanzo exhaled, giving out a quietly satisfied sigh, that Aya realised just how closely he'd been watching the priest's lips mould around the thin cylinder of the cigarette. For a brief moment he was embarrassed, but that soon turned to amusement when it occurred to him that sitting before him was the highest of Buddhist priests, smoking like a chimney. Not that any of this showed on his impassive mask of a face.

"So in short, we're probably dealing with a lunatic that gets off on turning humans into demons. Interesting…" Sanzo drew on his cigarette again, exhaling to the side instead of directly towards Aya in a rare moment of consideration. He was glad that he'd beaten Gojyo here, giving him a chance to talk in private with the member of Weiss who was, in his opinion, easily the least irritating.

"You sound awfully confident in that judgement. Is it even possible for such a transformation to take place?" Aya had already come to the same conclusion, but it was attention to detail that had kept him alive all this time. Question everything; especially when 'everything' related to the existence of human-to-demon transformations.

Sanzo smirked slightly around his cigarette. '_Ah, the ignorance of youth.'_

"Oh, believe me, it's entirely possible. I mean, Hakkai did it, after all." If he hadn't been so used to observing people, Sanzo would have assumed that Aya already knew about the bloodline of three-quarters of the Ikkou team. It was only the momentary widening of the redhead's eyes that gave away his calm façade, and encouraged Sanzo to keep talking.

"Ah, so Gojyo never got around to spilling that particular piece of knowledge. Am I right in assuming that you don't know a lot about old Chinese Youkai legends?" A slight nod from Aya made Sanzo sigh internally, knowing that he'd have to explain the entire situation from the beginning. Yet once again, that was more of an instinctive reaction; talking to the Japanese man was strangely relaxing, in a way that Sanzo couldn't remember anyone else causing.

"There's a story that says, 'a man who kills one thousand Youkai will become one himself'. Hakkai used to be human. Now, the only thing that keeps him looking like us are those little silver cuffs around his ear. Take them off and you've got a bloodthirsty monster with claws, fangs, and the whole demon look. He might seem weak, but Hakkai is quite possibly the most powerful man you'll ever meet." Not that Sanzo would ever tell him that to his face. Compliments just weren't his style.

Aya simply stayed silent, wondering what the Hell he'd just gotten himself in for.

* * *

Ken was rinsing the last of the dishes when the kitchen door slammed open once again. He heard a sigh behind him from Omi, who was mentally working out how much it would cost for a new door when the current one packed it in. Neither of them needed to look at the door to know who the new arrival was; the voice that rang out removed any doubt.

"I'm ba-ack! Did you…"

"Yohji's upstairs, Gojyo." Ken cut off the older man, not wanting to listen to the ridiculous stuff he came up with. He could tell without looking up that Gojyo was pouting; '_It really is just like dealing with Yohji all over again…'_

"Oh, so now you don't care what I have to tell you? Fine then, figure it out yourselves." Despite his words, there was humour in Gojyo's voice. He was finding that he really did like Weiss…well, most of Weiss. The jury was still out on Aya the Asshole.

"Hmm, yeah, about that; your friend in the dress burst in about ten minutes ago. He's talkin' to Aya in the living room, so I'm happy to leave 'em too it. After all, we can put those two in a room together and not have to worry about them fucking, unlike some people…" Ken had to laugh when Omi choked on the glass of water he was drinking. How the kid managed to stay so innocent, he would never know.

"Oh my God, that was one time! Besides, the hole in the wall was entirely Yohji's fault. Yep, definitely. Anyway, upstairs, you say? Not for long!" Gojyo felt a bolt of lust when he remembered what had happened the day before, when he and Yohji had been in that same lounge room and everyone else was out…He thought that he'd better head upstairs before his body started to remember, too.

It was only when he was heading for the door that he recalled the last conversation he'd had with Sanzo. "Ah, and Ken? I wouldn't be so certain that Commander Jerk isn't trying to get into Officer Silent's pants. He's just not as upfront as I am. Not everyone can be this self-confident, because not everyone can be this sexy. But yeah, keep that in mind, now!"

This time, Ken had to smack Omi on the back because he was coughing and choking so hard.

Gojyo laughed his way through the house, heading for the room he'd spent a large portion of the past three days in. He was hoping that Yohji hadn't started getting ready to go out yet; there was something about watching the man dress that was ridiculously hot.

Once again, he didn't bother knocking before opening the door. Hell, it'd worked out nicely for him earlier, and sometimes lightening does strike twice!

Gojyo was in luck: when he pushed the door open, Yohji was standing with his back to the redhead, headphones blaring some sort of rock music while he dug through his wardrobe. Thanking his lucky stars, Gojyo crept up behind the oblivious man, keeping movement to a minimum.

Reaching his target, a pair of hands reached out, grabbing Yohji's ass roughly. The blonde jumped slightly, and then softened back to lean against the body behind him. Flipping his head to the side, Yohji spoke against Gojyo's jaw line, lips caressing the shaven skin and tongue darting out to run across the bone. "Mmm, evening Gojyo. Are we all done here, or do you have work shit to do?"

Shivering slightly, Gojyo moved one hand to rest on Yohji's waist and the other to flip off the headphones. He was pleased to feel a similar shiver run through the other man when he pressed his lips against the curled cartilage of an ear. "I've got people…well, a person, on the work shit. I knew Priesty would come in handy one day, so we've got a, ha ha, a date, don't we? You gonna get dressed?"

When Yohji nodded, Gojyo dropped his hands and stepped away, enjoying the slight groan of disappointment that Yohji let out. The blonde turned around to watch where Gojyo was going, and he smiled when the kappa dropped down to sit cross-legged on the large bed. "Planning on spectating, hey? Fine then. You want a show, you'll get a show. Only this time, you're allowed to touch the stripper; I'd be offended if you didn't, to tell the truth."

A leering grin spread over Gojyo's face, lighting his eyes with pure anticipation. "Well, if those're your terms, then I'm even gonna let you pick the music."

"Oh, aren't you just so kind. Let's see…I think this one." Taking the MP3 player he'd been listening to out of his pocket, Yohji plugged it into his speakers that sat in the corner, and then turned to look directly into Gojyo's eyes.

A slow, steady drum beat worked its way from the stereo as the blonde began to softly gyrate his hips to the music, movements speeding up as a bluesy guitar riff kicked in. The beat becoming more defined, he began to roll his shoulders in time, hands starting to slide down a covered torso as a deep voice rolled across the music.

He stepped towards the bed, moving with the liquid grace of a naturally-talented dancer. Hands still trailing down, Yohji's fingers started to slip towards his inner thighs, just skimming his crotch and causing Gojyo to absent-mindedly reach down and adjust his quickly tightening pants. Yohji kept looking at his audience, spurred on by the heated gaze following the movements of his hands. Hips kept swaying to the song and fingers reversed direction to wander upwards, making Yohji sigh as his palms slid directly over his hardening erection.

Gojyo moved forward to sit on the very edge of the mattress, entranced by the sensual movements of his lover. Just as his hand was moving towards his dick, almost desperate for some friction, he was stopped by the blonde swaying right up until their legs touched. Placing one knee on the bed beside Gojyo's leg, Yohji slipped his fingers under the hem of his shirt, dragging his hands and his shirt together up over defined muscles. The kappa's eyes were level with small brown nipples, and when they were revealed he leaned forward to take one between his teeth, throwing off the blonde's rhythm for a single beat.

With his left hand, Gojyo gently pinched the other nipple, and his right hand gripped Yohji's bunched-up shirt to pull it off completely. Yohji lifted his hands further to run them through shoulder-length hair, body still pulsing to the insistent beat of the music. They slipped back down to tug on the red hair tickling his bare chest, making Gojyo end his fun with Yohji's nipples.

Long, tanned fingers set the blonde's skin on fire as they reached around to support his back, allowing Yohji to pull his other leg onto the bed so that he straddled Gojyo's lap. The half-demon groaned and thrust upwards, bringing his groin directly into contact with Yohji's so that both men tightened their grips in pleasure. Covered dicks were ground against each other, still keeping to the beat in the background and making Gojyo realise that he'd never had such an amazing lapdance. There was definitely something to be said for being allowed to touch the dancer…

Yohji suddenly became aware that he was holding chunks of red hair in a tight enough grip to almost remove some, and he immediately dropped his hands to rest lazily over broad shoulders. He felt Gojyo's lips attack his neck, bringing with them a need to be fully naked and pinned underneath a strong body. Yohji's back arched, his hair falling down to slide over bare shoulders.

Moaning softly, the green-eyed man leaned to press his cheek against his lover's and spoke into his ear. "You planning on…Oh, Gods, don't stop…taking these pants off me? I'm getting uncomfortable…" He punctuated his words with a particularly forceful thrust, which pulled further moans from both men.

In reply, Gojyo winked and slid his hands to rest on Yohji's hips, lifting the other man almost easily to encourage him to stand. Yohji complied and took a step back, giving Gojyo enough room to slide from the bed onto the floor, resting on his knees so that his face was level with uncovered abdominals. The Chinese man pressed light kisses against the skin before him, lowering his head as hands regained their position buried in his hair. Unable to help himself, Gojyo rubbed the side of his face against a covered hardness, earning a strangled curse from his partner.

He took a deep breath and, turning his head until his nose pressed against Yohji, took the very top of black jeans between his teeth to pull it out so that his tongue could guide the button from its hole. A shudder that ran through Yohji had Gojyo grabbing the very tops of his thighs to hold him still, all the while fully unfastening the button and gripping the tab of the zipper between white teeth.

Gojyo's trapped cock throbbed when his face was met by dark blonde pubes and an excited erection; as Yohji had said two days ago, 'underwear is overrated!' He hadn't been planning on it, but being so close to the heat of Yohji's body had Gojyo taking the other man straight into his mouth, enjoying the feel of the pulsing appendage between his lips.

Having turned the tables, the kappa timed the slide of his mouth to the final beats of the song, picking up a fairly fast pace. Gojyo fell into his task, and was only dimly aware of the track changing to an industrial-esque pop song. His lips worked faster around the hard shaft, tongue teasing the head and his pulse jumping harder with every blissful noise dripping from Yohji's lips.

He didn't even have his hands anywhere near his own dick, still contained in its prison of fabric, but when he felt the member in his mouth begin to pulse and spill, his body jumped to copy and warm stickiness flooded both his mouth and the inside of his pants. It'd been a long time since he'd last come without immediate attention; even blowing Hakkai couldn't pull the same reaction from him, and a slight flush of embarrassment heated his face. It only lasted a few moments though, typical good humour shining through to look on the bright side.

Pulling off Yohji once more, he grabbed the top of undone jeans to pull them right to the floor, allowing the blonde to step out, fully naked. Gojyo grasped the hand that was offered out to him, rising to his feet and laughing. He gestured to his wet crotch and spoke to the still slightly dazed-looking assassin. "I spurted without even being touched…almost makes me relive the glory days of being a teenager. Or maybe you just; taste; that; good!" The final words were spaced with fleeting kisses to Yohji's lips, the last dissolving into a desperate clash of tongues and teeth as they shared the taste of Yohji's come between them.

"Well, are we still going out?" Yohji questioned once he'd rescued his mouth from the eager tongue. He wasn't sure which would be better: Staying in and having a night full of sex, or going out, getting drunk, making other people jealous and then coming back for more sex. Both options ended in fucking, so he was happy either way.

"Hmmm, well, I s'pose that I said we would…Alright, as long as I can borrow something to wear, let's go break some hearts. Besides, weren't you about to get dressed? How the Hell did that turn into a striptease, a lapdance and a blow job?" Not that Gojyo had any complaints about how a simple outfit change blew way out of proportion.

"Fine, you probably won't look anywhere near as sexy as I do in my clothes, but I'm sure I can find something that looks good on you." Yohji delivered his words with a cheeky grin, making Gojyo laugh and hit him on the bare shoulder as the pair turned towards the oversized wardrobe against one wall.

"Well, I wouldn't want to look like some sort of slut, now would I?"

* * *

In the living room, conversation about the mission had long since run out. Where that would usually mean an unbroken stretch of silence for both men, a shaky bond between the two had formed and was drawing small snippets of banter into the open. Neither man was particularly good at small talk, and neither wanted to open up about themselves, so talk was limited to snide comments about team mates and contrasts between employers. The silence between, though, had finally become comfortable and the underlying tension had almost completely evaporated.

Aya found himself beginning to enjoy the renegade priest's company, an unexpected though not entirely unwelcome discovery. Even the lingering smell of cigarette smoke wasn't bothering him.

Sanzo, on the other hand, had come to several conclusions about the man sitting opposite him. The most amusing of these was the near-certainty he felt in thinking that, beneath the annoyance the redhead showed towards his tall, blonde team mate, there was a desire in Aya to bend the man over the nearest horizontal surface and take his ass.

Then again, if he didn't seem so goddamned irritating, Sanzo would probably do the same to Yohji; it didn't look like the man would need much convincing...

Sanzo liked a challenge on occasion, though…and he thought that there might be one currently sitting just metres away from him. He had to clear his throat and distract himself before his mind got a little out of hand, which drew Aya's attention in the form of a flashing purple glance.

Sanzo felt the sudden urge to say something…anything! He glared around surreptitiously to find a topic of conversation.

"Where did the hole in the wall come from? Wayward soccer ball? You attempting to put Yohji's head through it?"

"Hn, no. That's a new addition. Our idiot and your idiot were apparently trying to fuck each other into the wall, hence the need for new plaster. Stupidity personified, those two."

Smirking inwardly, Sanzo stifled a short burst of laughter. It was almost like talking to himself; the perfect situation, really. "Sounds about right. I don't think the kappa prat has taken much of a liking to you, he was bitching to Hakkai that he didn't need to know another me."

Sanzo was shocked when a deep, rumbling laugh burst out of the seemingly humourless Aya. It didn't last long, but it was genuine, and Sanzo felt his lips curve into a smile. "Oh, no, the walking bag of disease doesn't like me. I think I'm losing my will to live, truthfully."

Another conclusion that Sanzo had come to: with the right motivation, the redhead had a bitingly sarcastic sense of humour. He appreciated that.

* * *

Gojyo and Yohji stomped down the stairs, tangled enough around each other that it was a little difficult for Omi to pick who had their hands where. Not that he was particularly interested in finding out. He'd accidentally walked in on the blonde far too often to need anything that may recall those visuals.

The pair were making more noise than seemed possible for only two people, but it descended to silence when an unfamiliar sound passed into the kitchen through the living room door.

"That's…Aya…isn't it? And he's…laughing? Uhhhh…am I high right now?" Yohji stood stock still, head cocked to the side as he wondered whether he was somehow tripping balls without realising.

"No, Yohji, I hear it too. It's good that Aya's actually showing some friendliness to another person…" Omi trailed off when he remembered Gojyo's words upon leaving the kitchen earlier. Instinctively he raised his hand to his nose, checking for blood, and was relieved when his fingers came away unstained. A lucky escape, that one.

"Well, okay, it's time to leave Bizarro World and invade the nightlife. We'll try not to make too much noise tonight, kid!" Gojyo winked at Omi, lightly smacking Yohji's ass and leading him out the door.

Ah, there was that nosebleed. Omi pinched the end of his nose and groped around for a tissue box, endlessly glad that Ken had gone out for a night-time run and wasn't around to take the piss.

Hearing the sound of glass clinking through the wall, he decided that it was time to retreat to his own room. He knew there was a stash of liquor in the living room, and being an aural witness to Aya 'loosening up' wasn't at the top of his list of priorities. The sound of a team mate having sex was bad enough when he couldn't escape it, so he was happy to take his leave before he heard what Aya sounded like when he…Blood began to drip onto the floor, and it was definitely time to go.

No one was there to witness Omi's graceless, stumbling and bleeding escape.

* * *

It was an unusually warm night, and the house's cooling facilities were sadly lacking. Sanzo felt sweat beginning to form over his body and, without giving a thought to the fact that he was in front of a virtual stranger, stood up to release his robes from his shoulders to hang about his waist. He exhaled at the feel of air caressing small patches of exposed skin, missing the simultaneous intake of breath that Aya made.

In an unconsciously sexy action he stretched lean arms above his head and arched slightly, loosening his muscles to a point that he hadn't felt in too long. Sanzo sat back down, only then looking at the other man in the room. Goosebumps began to break out on the very tops of his biceps when he saw the intense look in the redhead's eyes; a gaze of contemplation, admiration and very faint lust.

Aya blinked, the look vanishing from his eyes as his rational mind took over again. It'd been so long since he'd had another…his body was reacting without prompt from his mind, which pissed Aya off to no end. He didn't like feeling out of control of his actions, and need was one thing he had always hoped to get rid of forever. _'But those armbands are ridiculously erotic…Don't you want to peel him out of that shirt?' _Aya could have sworn that a voice in the back of his mind was purring. The swordsman didn't even know that his mind could work like that; he needed hard liquor, and now. That would drown out the voice.

Rising to his feet, Aya moved over to the display cupboard sitting against the wall. He knew that there was booze and glasses towards the back; another of Yohji's 'secret' hiding places.

"What do you drink?" Was his voice rougher than it should have been? Were his shields cracking? Shit!

"Anything's fine."

Aya grunted in reply, grabbing the first bottle he saw and splashing brown liquid into two glasses, accidentally clashing the bottle neck to the glass rim. Walking back to the chair, he handed Sanzo his glass wordlessly, and it was received wordlessly.

Sanzo sniffed at the drink, then shrugged slightly and tipped it straight down his throat. Years of drinking with Hakkai tended to get a person's tolerance for alcohol pretty high. Plus, he was never entirely sure that being fully drunk around the perverted kappa would end with both of them staying unmolested. He was going to give himself every advantage to stay aware.

Watching the movement of the booze in the glass, Aya raised it to his lips and drank half, not as used to alcohol as the priest. A drop settled on his upper lip and Sanzo watched as the very tip of a pink tongue darted out to remove it. He couldn't help himself; he moaned faintly, but just loud enough to be heard.

Aya was confused; he wasn't particularly good at social interaction, and he didn't know exactly how to interpret the noise that came from Sanzo. So he went into familiar territory, and simply pretended that it never happened. The mood in the room changed perceptibly, the tension returning and the silence becoming uncomfortable almost instantly.

Abruptly, Sanzo stood and fastened his robes properly again. Meeting Aya's very nearly curious eyes, he simply shook back his hair and spoke a single word; 'Goodnight.'

Not expecting any form of reply, he walked out of the room and away from the utterly perplexing beauty sitting there. Was this how other people felt when they had to deal with him? If so, Sanzo was glad, but it was just plain irritating to have to face such shielded emotions himself. Clearly, that was the reason why the redhead had so much built-up sexual tension; even Sanzo could see that the man needed a good fuck, but no one was probably game enough to approach him.

'_Well then…is it game on?'_

Stepping out into the warm night air, Sanzo snickered into the dark. He'd never had to chase another person before; they'd simply fallen into line whenever he decided to show some interest. This could be fun.

* * *

*******This is slightly edited from my original, which had a couple of lines of song lyrics that I took out according to totally-not-at-all-silly FF rules. If you really feel a need to know, the song Yohji danced to was 'She Rides' by Danzig and the industrial-pop song was 'Cum Junkie' by Genitorturers, complete with a bad joke about the lyrics of the last song. But it really isn't important to know, so feel free to fill in with your own song.

Also: I just couldn't resist the Weiss Thursday reference. Quality entertainment, that.*******


	5. Chapter 5

*******Beware the OOC Sanzo. We'll just blame it on the Japanese air or something.*******

* * *

From the angle he was lying at, upper body raised from the bed by his forearms pressing into the mattress, all Aya could see of his partner was the very top of a blonde head as it lifted from and dropped to his crotch.

Aya let out a quiet breath that he hadn't realised he was holding in, revelling in the feel of eager lips and tongue sliding over his cock in an erratic pattern; increasing the suction here, pulling back to tease over the head there, never letting his mind stop spinning. Fingers gripped bony hips hard enough to leave quickly-developing bruises, and the counterpoint of pain to the pleasure threw him further towards orgasm.

He took to mentally reciting a highly serious and rather boring poem he knew in a desperate attempt to prolong his pleasure, but was barely ten seconds through his inner monologue when he lost the ability to remember, well, pretty much anything.

"Fuck! Oh, god…"

The curse was out of his mouth before he could stop himself, the slight scrape of teeth against his sensitive flesh making his fingers curl into the bed sheet and his hips try to thrust away from the restraining hands.

Through a slight haze, Aya felt the gentle vibrations of a slight chuckle bringing him right to the very edge of completion. He would have come right that instant if not for the warm mouth drawing away, the sudden rush of cold air on his dick taking away a little bit of his erection's strain.

The blonde head tipped back, revealing a leering mouth set into a beautiful face. A lust-tinged voice breathed Aya's true name, and the illusion shattered.

The night was still unnaturally warm, and so Aya had been sleeping with the bedcovers kicked away, clothed only in a silky pair of boxers. The front of said underwear was tenting urgently, much to Aya's annoyance. It wasn't that he'd never woken up like this before; it was actually almost embarrassing how often it happened, always preceded by a dream similar to the one he'd just had. Well, he was male, after all, and didn't generally feel inclined to get taken by a perfect stranger or enjoy his own pleasure, so his body often had to force him into action. It also wasn't the fact that there was no woman in his fantasy; once Aya had gotten over the hormonal teenage years of being turned on by anything that looked in his direction, he'd soon realised that he responded far better to males than to the fairer sex.

Aya's annoyance was actually directed at the situation created by his brain. He was used to having erotic dreams about one particular blonde male that he would never go near in real life; but the eyes that had looked up at him in tonight's dream weren't a bright shade of green.

They were an eerily familiar purple, and an astounding feature in the face of a man he'd met on only two occasions.

Sighing in irritation, Aya pushed his boxers down and took himself in hand, hoping to get his body under control so that he could return to sleep as soon as possible.

* * *

Yohji awoke with a start, his body announcing in no uncertain terms that he needed to pee. Still lying back, he weighed his options between moving away from his soft bed and the attractive man still asleep in it, or ignoring his body and hoping for the best.

He was running a full debate inside his thoughts when a noise that sounded suspiciously like a moan registered to his brain. At first he thought that it had come from Gojyo, who was lying asleep on his side facing away from Yohji; but when the noise sounded again, it was definitely coming from further away.

Hangover-induced nausea was beginning to kick in, but the blonde didn't really pay it any heed as he strained his ears to hear whether he was imagining things again or not.

'_The only one with a room close to mine is…Aya? 'Sif that's him…I've heard that kind of groan more than once in my time…and there's no way that Aya, Mr I'm-Above-Human-Emotions, is having a dream like __**that**__…'_

No; there it was again! Yohji was left with no doubt that it was Aya making the sounds, the deep tone of the voice unmistakably his. Yohji knew that the redhead had to be asleep and unaware of his little performance, because there was absolutely no way that Aya would voluntarily let anyone else hear him going through something so…natural.

Yohji started to laugh softly, mind reeling at the fact that he'd heard two bizarre sounds from Aya over the course of twelve hours; amusement and pleasure were two things that weren't generally connected with the grumpiest member of Weiss.

"Nnngg…Yohji, shut up, 'm tryin' to sleep…nothing's funny at four in the morning…"

"Are you sure about that? Listen…"

Gojyo opened his mouth to make some sort of comment, but Yohji clapped his hand over the redhead's mouth and pressed his finger to his own lips in a shushing motion.

There was silence, and Yohji was beginning to wonder whether the show was over. Then:

"Mmm…-nzo…"

'_What the FUCK!' _Yohji had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from cussing aloud. He and Gojyo looked at each other, the darkness of the room not showing the men how wide the other's eyes were.

"That can't be what I think it was," Gojyo whispered around the press of Yohji's hand.

"…Fuck! Oh, God," came the voice through the wall. Yohji cracked up laughing, shaking violently as he struggled to stay silent. He leaned over to press his face into the soft flesh of the kappa's neck, using it to keep the giggles inside. Eventually, after the sporadic groans and sighs from next door subsided, he regained control of his body and took a few deep breaths.

"Y'know, I think that there must be something about blondes that drives redheads crazy. Seems to work on you and Aya, at least." Yohji made certain that he kept his voice low enough that it wouldn't float across to Aya's room. He liked having a dick, and wanted to keep it properly attached.

"Mmm, I gotta agree with you there, gorgeous. But Sanzo's so fucking dense that he won't notice. Believe me." Gojyo couldn't help it; he was already imagining various scenarios, all of which ended in a kinky foursome. '_Oooh sounds promising…as long as Baldy and Fujimiya keep their stupid comments to themselves…'_

Yohji saw his bedmate's face change from amused and vaguely sleepy to the look he got when he was fantasising about something particularly…exciting. Already being pretty attuned to the way the redhead's mind worked, Yohji could imagine the contents of the fantasy. He had to admit, it was a pretty hot idea; no matter how improbable it was. But then again, what was the point of fantasies if they were easily achieved?

"Gojyo, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The half-breed smirked, only partly coming out of his imaginary porno. "I think I am, B2…"

"Alright then, we…Wait, what the Hell was that? Who the fuck is B2?" Yohji was genuinely confused; he put Gojyo's odd reply down to the combination of exhaustion and being lost in his fantasy. They'd had a pretty good 'workout' earlier that night, after all. Gojyo just laughed softly, both men still well aware that it wasn't hard for noise to move between the rooms.

"It's from…Oh, whatever, don't worry about it. S'not important. Anyway, if you're considering getting Aya and Sanzo together so that we can have hot group sex, I'm in."

"Oooh, that's what I like to hear! But that's enough about those two frigid bastards; I'm wide awake now, and my body heard someone mention sex. So maybe we should…Ah, crap," Yohji's body suddenly also reminded him of the reason why he woke up, "I've gotta go for a minute, fall asleep before I'm done and you'll be going straight back to that hotel."

Gojyo didn't really see a whole lot of a problem with going to the hotel, seeing as how Hakkai would be there, alone…but Yohji didn't need to hear about that. He knew that the…thing that he and Yohji shared was only going to be temporary, and he wanted to enjoy it as much as he possibly could. So, instead of informing his blonde friend that he could still get a good toss somewhere else, the kappa kicked the light sheet from his naked body and trailed a hand down towards his crotch seductively.

Yohji bailed from the room quick smart, both to get back as soon as possible and to avoid simply jumping back onto the bed…and the man in it.

* * *

'_He's staring at me…why does he keep __**doing**__ that?' _Aya always knew when someone was watching him, even if his back was to the person. Yohji and Gojyo had crawled out of bed sometime around noon, and the demon had left the Koneko with a parting comment about 'the mission' that Aya didn't think was at all related to the mutant case. Since then, he'd felt eyes on him whenever he was concentrating on something, and had quickly noticed that it was Yohji.

It was unnerving, to say the least.

When Omi had called them into the study to see the results of the DNA test that Kritiker had run, Aya had made sure to place himself so that Ken kept the older blonde away. He didn't trust the man to keep his hands to himself, even if Yohji already had a small scar on his palm from making the mistake of invading Aya's personal space one day while the testy redhead was holding a pair of scissors. Aya's mouth twitched at the memory of the playboy's shocked shout of pain and subsequent freak-out.

"_Fuck! You insane, sadistic, completely fucking __**nuts **__son of a BITCH! Scissors are not a fucking weapon!"_

"…The work of some sort of genius?" The voice from Aya's memory became less outraged and more curious. He realised that he probably should have been concentrating on what Omi had found in the DNA profile, rather than remembering how amazing Yohji's face looked when it was twisted with anger…He shook himself out of reverie, watching Omi pace back and forth and trying to piece together the information he had missed while distracted. He was only thinking about Yohji because the man was irritating him, nothing else…

"…There must be hundreds of facilities researching DNA!" Aya was vaguely annoyed at the youngest Weiss member's whining. They all had jobs to do, and Omi's main concern was data collection. He should know that by now, and stop with the complaining. Aya wanted the briefing over quickly, as he planned to visit Aya-chan later in the day and keep himself busy…he wanted to be nowhere near anyone blonde, whether they were Japanese, Chinese or goddamned Icelandic!

He only half listened to Yohji and Ken's comments to Omi, waiting for them to leave the room and get distracted so that there was less chance that they'd see him escape from the house. Also, though he was trying to avoid thinking about it, Aya knew that Yohji didn't have eyes in the back of his head, and therefore couldn't keep gawking at him if Aya kept behind him. '_Oh, I have no problem being behind him…as long as I can get a lot closer to that ass…'_ Aya nearly choked on his own spit when a little voice piped up at the back of his mind.

Trying to recover, he went for his usual strategy of getting angry at the nearest person whenever his mind threw him a curveball. Omi and his whining were the perfect target.

"Save your bitching until after we find our target!"

"Yes, sir." That kind of response would have been clearly sardonic coming from anyone else, but Aya didn't know whether the kid was even capable of something as negative as sarcasm. He left the room without further comment, still trying to analyse the decidedly dirty turn that his mind seemed to have taken over the last day or so. '_It's got to be something to do with having __**two**__ perverted idiots around, I just know it.'_

Aya decided to visit his sister sooner than he'd planned, because he knew that there was no way his mind would continue being inappropriate in her presence. At least, that's what he hoped…

* * *

Hakkai was bored. It would've been difficult for a casual observer to notice, but the quiet man was truly restless. He wasn't reading the book in front of him, the first sentence on the page having been looked at a hundred times over without going any further.

They hadn't had a mission in too long, and Hakkai didn't even have Gojyo around to entertain him. Since meeting Yohji, Gojyo had slept at the hotel once, and the brunette had hardly even seen him. Yesterday's shower incident barely counted as 'quality time', and Hakkai found himself not just bored, but also missing his best friend.

After Gojyo had picked up a dying stranger from the street over three years ago, they'd never spent too much time apart. They'd lived together for almost all of that time, first platonically and then as…friends with 'benefits'. Even when Hakkai had been dragged off by Sanzo to face Kritiker training, only a month after the kappa had stuffed his insides back in, Gojyo had weaselled his way into Kritiker's employ as well.

It was understandable that Hakkai, in those circumstances, would be a little lonely now that there wasn't anyone to talk to, or just listen to. He wasn't prepared to go near Sanzo, who had stormed back into the hotel the night before for some reason or another, and had been heard muttering angrily well into today when the healer went near the blonde's door. He supposed that he could go outside to where Goku was kicking a football that he'd bought the previous day, but it really wasn't Goku that he wanted to see.

He wanted to be around Gojyo, who was off gallivanting around the city with his new friend.

It wasn't very often that Hakkai felt like getting so drunk that he couldn't stand up; right now, at three in the afternoon, he was cursing his demonic toxin flushing that allowed alcohol to completely dissipate in his bloodstream minutes after it went in. He hadn't been completely smashed since he was human, and occasionally he missed the feeling of temporary amnesia that booze could bring.

Hakkai knew what he needed; to kill, or at least severely injure something. But that urge would never show on his face, because the demon had more self-control than almost anyone he'd ever met.

He just hoped that this demon mutation mission went somewhere, and fast.

* * *

Across the hall, Sanzo really was angry. He wasn't entirely sure why; he just knew that it had something to do with perverted numbskulls and emotionally fucked Japanese redheads.

One thing was for certain, though: someone was going to be either killed or screwed into next week. Maybe both, although definitely not in that order.

Walking out of his kitchen area, Sanzo decided that he had to get out of the hotel and go…anywhere. Checking through the window, he could just make out the small figure of Goku chasing his football around the patch of grass behind the building, and decided to leave him to it. The priest wanted to be alone for a while, rather than being pestered for food and everything that caught the easily-distracted kid's eye.

He dropped his robes to the floor, stepping out of them to leave the dark jeans, soft shirt and metal-ringed sleeves intact. Sometimes, dressing as a priest caught way too much attention…though it seemed like his current outfit was also pretty good at making people stare.

Sanzo grabbed his room key and slammed his door shut, knowing that Hakkai would hear the noise and realise that the priest was going out. There was no way that Sanzo was going into the brunette's room to actually speak with him; for the most part, human contact was overrated. He had better things to do.

In the elevator to the ground floor, Sanzo found himself gloriously alone for the entire ride. Some people seemed to think that being stuck in an enclosed space together was enough of a reason to try and strike up a conversation; Sanzo thought otherwise. No one bothered him as he stalked through the foyer of the hotel, most probably put off by the angry look on his face. When he reached the street he turned left, subconsciously moving in the opposite direction of the Koneko.

Sanzo was only a few hundred metres from the hotel when he passed Gojyo, who was loaded up with a colourful array of shopping bags from what looked to be clothes stores. The redhead's cheerful drawl sounded out in greeting, "Hey, priesty! Lookin' good, in a grumpy bastard kinda way!"

The monk sneered, not bothering to grace Gojyo with a response. Last night his priorities had changed; he now had no immediate desire to fuck the redhead…or at least, not that redhead. But who knew how long it was going to take to loosen the other man up enough to get to that point?

He sighed loudly, and Sanzo didn't realise that his noisy exhalation had caught the attention of a group of girls standing nearby, who were now all staring and whispering to each other. A few looked more than slightly crushed when the handsome blonde didn't even look their way, unaware that their chances with the man were somewhere in the negative values.

Sanzo concentrated on weaving through the heavy crowds, not paying any attention to his surroundings or the appreciative looks he was getting from both women and men. Having years of meditation under his belt made it easy to blank out his mind, and Sanzo concentrated solely on the clear path through the pedestrian traffic. In contrast to his Buddhist mindset, Sanzo's graceful ability to move through people without coming into contact with anyone was honed from fighting battle after battle.

A good half hour must've passed without Sanzo even realising, his mind as blank as it was. He was so far gone that when something finally caught his eye, it took several seconds before the sight registered and stood out in his mind.

The blonde whirled around, vaguely missing the usual feel of long white robes swirling around his legs. It was only then that Sanzo noticed the lack of a crowd, standing as he was at the back of a large building. The utter absence of life was almost unnerving in a city that was normally so crowded, but Sanzo found himself relaxing slightly as he retraced his steps to the thing that had caught his attention.

Looking around, Sanzo located the flash of white that had stood out to his otherwise empty mind. It was part of a well-maintained white Porsche, partially hidden among the few other cars in the building's parking lot. An oddly familiar white Porsche.

Walking over to the car, Sanzo scoped the number plate and confirmed that yes, he really had seen that car before; it had been there as he went through the garage into the Weiss building the previous day.

Sanzo's analytical mind went into overdrive, attempting to deduce which member of Weiss the car belonged to. He knew that it wasn't the slutty one; even if Gojyo hadn't mentioned that the tall blonde drove an open-top kit car, it would've been just a little obvious that the monstrosity that had also been parked in the garage belonged to the flashy man.

It came with a slight leap of logic, but Sanzo assumed that the car didn't belong to Hidaka, either. There had also been a motorcycle in the garage, and when he'd busted into the kitchen, the soccer player sitting there had been wearing a black Kawasaki Racing shirt. It was a bit of a stretch, but the priest trusted his observation skills and his instincts; both of which were telling him that the white car wasn't Hidaka's.

That left…the overly-enthusiastic kid and Aya. The kid barely looked old enough to be in high school, let alone own a car, so Sanzo disregarded him almost immediately. He hoped that his reasoning was right, because he had a sudden urge to see the annoyingly good-looking redhead. And Hell, if his car was here, then the owner had to be somewhere nearby.

Analysis done, Sanzo looked around to find out what kind of building he was standing behind. He had to walk right around the side of the nondescript brick structure to find a sign of any kind, but it was blindingly obvious from the building's front what was inside the walls. Above the main doors large letters proclaimed, 'Magic Bus Hospital', and Sanzo's limited curiosity was piqued. Why was the redhead parked at a hospital? Why was his car around the back when the lot by the entrance could only have been two-thirds full? And, most importantly, how much longer was he going to be inside?

Pulling a mobile phone from the pocket of his jeans, Sanzo quickly checked the time. He had nothing better to do; it seemed like Aya was going to have a little visitor when he got back to his car.

Walking back to the white vehicle, Sanzo looked it up and down, admiring the lack of even a scrape on the immaculate paintwork. '_Oh, fuck it,' _the blonde thought as he moved to the front of the car, hoisting himself up to rest back on the bonnet. He figured that Aya would probably murder him, judging by the condition of the car; but if he could draw a reaction from the redhead, one that wasn't the same as the 'ignore it and it'll go away' effect he'd shown last night, then Sanzo was that much closer to getting into the redhead's pants.

Or, he could end up dead. But, as he thought to himself, '_shit happens!'_

If any of Sanzo's teammates could have read his mind at that moment, they probably would have thought they had their lines crossed; but Sanzo had found that coming up against a grumpier, more repressed man than himself had brought out his playful side. A side that was also hornier than usual.

* * *

Aya pressed a quick kiss to his motionless sister's forehead, pale hand covering her clenched fist that only he knew held a long, gold earring. Whenever he was with his sister, his will strengthened as he remembered just why he was a part of Weiss, and how he'd managed to recover from any number of life-threatening injuries to kill another day. He would get revenge for his sister, and to a lesser extent, his parents. Takatori Reiji would die, and even if Aya didn't wake up, at least she could sleep on in peace. But, as long as that disgusting man lived, Ran would never rest. Ran…the only time Aya ever thought of himself as Ran was when he visited his sister, when it seemed wrong to still take her name. But he was Ran only to himself; no one else would ever think of him that way, except for the girl who lay in the bed before him.

Even if his dreams tried to tell him differently.

He stood up and left the sterile hospital room, not even pausing to take a parting glance at his barely-alive sister. Passing through the halls, he ignored the farewells of Kritiker-placed nurses who either didn't know his name or referred to him solely as Abyssinian. The non-Kritiker staff at the police hospital had, at one point, often tried to slip him a phone number or two; but when they were met with uncomprehending or angry looks, the attempts soon stopped.

Each washed-out corridor seemed identical to the last, and it was only from years of visiting that Aya didn't get lost in the maze of sickness and death. He blinked as he finally stepped into the light, his calm, detached mood quickly disappearing as the real world set back in. Tension started to rebuild in his shoulders and as he walked back to where he'd parked his car, well away from the view of the main street, Aya's usual irritable mood had almost completely come back.

He came to a dead stop when his vehicle appeared in sight, having to resist the urge to rub his eyes and get rid of the illusion in front of him. '_There is NOT an idiotic bastard lounging away on the front of my car…Oh, I am going to murder him if there's even a __**single**__ scratch in my paint…maybe I'll just kill him anyway…'_

Aya opened his mouth to start yelling at his unwelcome surprise, but stopped himself just in time as he realised how public their surroundings were. Storming to his car, he reached over and grabbed the neckline of Sanzo's shirt, dragging him from his position on the bonnet. He hissed through his teeth at the blonde, having to hold them shut in order to prevent himself from screaming in anger.

"What. The fuck. Do you think. That you're doing, touching my fucking car? Why are you even here, you stupid prick?" Aya used his hold on the priest's shirt to throw the man to the ground, deciding against kicking the absolute shit out of the blonde in front of a building filled with possible witnesses. He was furious that someone had busted him at the hospital, and especially that after years of living in close quarters with his team, it'd been by a man he barely knew.

Aya wouldn't have anybody knowing what, or rather who, all his mission money went to. This impudent man wasn't going to be the first one to find out.

Sanzo stood from the ground, calmly brushing small traces of dirt from his clothes. He met Aya's glare head on with an impassive look, clearly unaffected by the other man's anger. Rather, his mind was taking a decidedly different turn. '_Aya…is fucking gorgeous when he's furious!' _

The priest admired how purple eyes flashed with pure emotion, the other man's hidden passion breaking out. Sanzo knew that this wasn't just about the car; there was something else, something that was bringing out this unexpected level of fury.

"I saw your car and thought I'd stop by. I think the true question should be, what are you doing here, at a hospital? You don't look very injured to me." It was a dance with death, but Sanzo was enjoying seeing real emotion from the man who had been so blank earlier. It was…fascinating. He knew that he was acting scarily close to the way Gojyo often did, but he wasn't fussed; there weren't any members of his team around to witness his transgression, in the end.

"That's none of your business. So you can just move on, before I decide that you're an inconvenience to me. Believe it when I say, no one would ever find your body."

Sanzo's lips twitched up involuntarily. "What makes you think that you would be able to kill me? I don't die very easily and believe me, many have tried."

Fuming silently, Aya's arm subconsciously drifted to where his katana would have been buckled, if he'd been carrying it. He was ready to rethink all his previous notions about the blonde; he may just have been the most annoying member of the Ikkou, which was no small feat. '_As long as he stops mentioning the subject of what I'm doing here…he'll live.'_

Sanzo watched with interest, theorising why the other man's hand had moved in such an odd way. He assumed that it must have had something to do with Aya's weapon of choice, not that he knew what that was. The priest found that he was having fun, and couldn't resist taking things one step forward. '_Well, if I'm already acting like a cockroach kappa…I may as well milk it for everything I can.'_

Feigning boredom, Sanzo stretched his arms high above his head and groaned in release. The action, he knew full well, made the muscles in his arms twist and sculpt, the bright sunlight playing off the pale skin and black sleeves. The hem of his shirt lifted, showing the world a defined 'v' that dipped into low-slung jeans. It had been too long since he'd been out without his robes, the constant reminder of his vows that they were.

Aya's scowl deepened as annoying emotions began to flare up underneath the anger he felt at his hospital visits being discovered. The small glimpse of that lean torso, leading down to those sharp hipbones, was certainly not causing him to remember his dream and the thoughts he'd had as he tried to get his body back under control afterwards. As if to prove to himself that he wasn't enjoying the view, Aya turned to the side and focused his eyes on a pair of birds sitting on the powerline across the street. His face flicked back around, though, when he heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snicker coming from beside him.

"And what, pray tell, is so amusing to you?" An ordinary person may have begun to quake with fear if they'd had such a livid tone thrown at them, but Sanzo was no ordinary man. He was the thirty-first of China, and he'd be damned if he let himself be intimidated by a human when he'd faced so many powerful Youkai and survived.

"It's just how determined that you seem to be to not answer my question. You must have some kind of secret, to react to me like this. I just want to know what it is." Sanzo's lips pulled into a smile as he spoke, one that he'd been told looked incredibly dangerous and yet strangely alluring. He enjoyed the flashing of the redhead's eyes as the other man got progressively more pissed off, thoroughly revelling in the feel of being on the other side for once.

Sanzo spotted the fist that drew up to fly towards his face before it could connect; honed reflexes allowed him to grab the long-fingered hand and detour it away from his body. Vaguely annoyed from when Aya had earlier dropped him to the ground, Sanzo used his hold and the redhead's surprise to pull the other man towards him. He was still channelling Gojyo, and enjoying it immensely; not that he was going to be nicer to the half-breed now that he knew just how fun it was to stir people up.

Placing his mouth right by the younger man's ear, Sanzo didn't release the crushing grip he still held on Aya's fist. He had a limited window of opportunity before the other man took up the fight again, and Sanzo was hoping to keep all of his features intact. He had been telling Gojyo the truth when he mentioned vanity after practically stripping in the hall, and he liked his nose the shape it currently was. Some things just weren't worth getting bones broken for.

"You'll have to try better than that, Aya. I'll be around later to discuss the mission…but don't forget; this conversation isn't over."

Pulling back on the hand he was using to hold Aya, Sanzo made the redhead stumble slightly as he walked away in the direction he'd previously come from. He fancied that he could still feel the heat of the other man's anger, even as he crossed the street and headed for the hotel.

Sanzo was pleased that he'd been able to rid his system of the playful mood that bobbed up every now and again, and could return to being the antisocial bastard that his team knew and hated. What made it even better was the way he'd heard Aya's breathing become ragged when he had his mouth pressed against a pierced ear; and he didn't think that it was just from anger.

Aya, still standing by his car, had to take a few seconds to straighten himself up and gather his thoughts. He was undeniably irate at the blonde's refusal to comply with his wishes and not mention the hospital visit, and he was even angrier that the man had come so close and even touched him, let alone sat on top of his car. The last person stupid enough to put their grubby mitts on his prized possession came away from it with a broken thumb, and that was only because Aya knew that Ken wouldn't have been able to complete missions properly with a shattered or totally missing hand.

It was settled; the blonde man had to die. And for every dream of Aya's that he invaded, he was another day closer to his drawn-out and very painful death. Aya knew that he would rather kill some more than have anyone find out about his sister. There were some conversations that he simply wasn't prepared to have, ever.


	6. Chapter 6

*******Here's a fairly major adjustment that I'm making to the canon timeline: in my warped little Weiss world here, they've already met Schwarz and they know about their powers, plus Schreiend doesn't exist (I found that having them in here meant that I had to go into all that Asuka/Neu stuff, and that's not a direction I particularly feel like going in). Now, it should all make sense!

Also: plot! Real, honest-to-god plot! Where'd that come from, after so long?*******

* * *

"Oi, Aya, where have you been? We've got a lead on this goddamn mission!" Ken wasn't expecting an answer to his opening question, the words coming out from habit alone. He had no idea about the real Aya, the girl in the hospital bed; he simply assumed that his teammate went off and brooded for long periods of time whenever he mysteriously disappeared.

From the next room, he heard Aya's usual mono-syllabic response: a grunted 'hn' noise. '_Jeez, don't get __**too**__ excited, Aya!'_

Ken realised that he was going to have to go to the redhead if he wanted to fill him in; not a course of action that was likely to end in smiles and hugs all around. But work was work, with or without antisocial bastards who seemed to be far too comfortable with killing people.

Standing up from the couch in the living room, Ken moved across into the kitchen.

"We heard this afternoon that one of that annoying princess bitch Ouka's friends might know a guy who's been turned. She asked Omi to go over there and talk to the guy; it's as good a chance as any to see what we can get outta him." Ken leant against the doorway, addressing Aya's back; a regular occurrence.

"We're gonna go through the plan in 10 minutes." Message delivered, Ken turned around and went back to the living room, ready to catch a few more minutes of the football game he was watching before heading down to the mission room.

Settling back on the couch, he was disappointed to find that the game had been replaced by a commercial break. Inadvertently his mind began to wander, settling on the Chinese team that had been put under the 'care' of Weiss.

'_Well, can't say that I have any problem with Goku! That kid can play; I'd swear that he'd learnt before. It's too bad that he's too old for my team of kids…'_ Ken smiled, remembering the kid's pure enthusiasm and ridiculous energy. He had no idea why that blonde prick acted so mean towards Goku…

Blondie. Now there was a bastard and a half. '_I wonder if that stick up his ass ever makes it uncomfortable to sit down?'_

Ken's mood, which hadn't been great in the first place, darkened further. He had a natural distaste for people like Sanzo; which is why Aya had ended up unconscious on the Koneko floor when he'd first arrived. The same thing had happened to Yohji, but that was because Ken didn't think that he'd looked strong enough to defend himself.

He hadn't been.

In his usual near-bipolar fashion, Ken found himself cheering up. The shocked look on Yohji's face as he headed for the ground had been a sight to behold, and that fight with Aya had been a lot of fun.

Even if he had woken up the next morning amongst the demolished remains of the shop.

Ken's heard jerked up as he heard footsteps heading down the hall, the quiet noises telling him that Aya was going down to the mission room. '_I'd better not keep Mr Irrational waiting; I might lose a few teeth.'_

Hitting the button on the remote to turn the TV off, Ken walked into the hall just in time to see Omi appear from the back. Walking over, Ken slung his arm around his friend's shoulder, directing him down to the mission room. "Hey, Omi! Glad to see that you could drag yourself away from all that internet porn to join us."

Snorting in amused disgust, Omi playfully pushed the soccer player away and dislodged himself from under the muscular arm. "I get enough of that sort of comment from Yotan, thankyou very much! I don't need it from you, too."

Ken laughed, once again glad that the team only had one Aya. He probably would've topped himself already if he had to live with three humourless assholes.

In the mission room, Ken sprawled on the couch next to Omi, watching while Aya settled against the back wall. Someone had a bug up his ass about something or other. Silence reigned in the room until Omi muttered something about being late, catching Ken's attention. "What was that, kiddo?"

"Hmmm? Oh, I called the Ikkou guys, told them to send over two people. I decided that this would be a good opportunity to see what they can do; it's just backup and surveillance, after all. But they're late."

Ken thought for a second, until the lightbulb hit. "So…that means only two of us are needed?"

Omi nodded, and neither of the pair was surprised when Aya spoke up. "I'm going."

His tone invited no argument, and Ken shrugged. '_He takes every mission he possibly can, and a few that he shouldn't…if it was anyone else, I'd have asked 'why' a long time ago, but I like being alive!'_

Yohji was still nowhere to be seen, and so Omi turned to Ken. "Looks like it's out of us two, KenKen. I said that they should send over a long-range and a short-range fighter, so…"

Ken stood and stretched out, cracking his neck from side to side. "Well then, looks like I'm out for the night. Your darts and Aya's katana; makes a pretty good pair, really. I'm gonna get to catch the game, after all! Call me if you need me."

Watching the brunette walk out of the mission room, Omi sighed. He'd at least hoped that Ken would stick around to keep him company; Aya wasn't the greatest conversationalist, in the end. He might just go crazy from silence before the other two arrived.

* * *

Hakkai put the phone down, turning to face the other three in his hotel room. "That was Omi. He asked that we send over two people, to help them with this mission."

Goku immediately perked up, the thought of a fight hyping him. "Can I go, Sanzo? CanIcanIcanIcanIca-…OW!"

A quick slap across the head with the priest's fan cut Goku off mid-spiel, making Gojyo crack up with laughter. He only just managed to avoid the blow that was sent in his direction, tipping his chair backwards in the effort and being forced to grab the nearest solid object…which happened to be Hakkai. "Oh, Gojyo, please do be careful. We don't want you being out of commission at this point, now do we? Sanzo, I th-…"

"I'll go with the monkey." Sanzo cut the healer off this time, crossing his arms and glaring around, as if waiting for someone to object.

"Ah, Sanzo…Omi mentioned that they had found a possible mutant, and that they were going to try and gain information from him. I don't think that it's the best idea that you go." Hakkai's small smile didn't waver, despite the steel-melting glare that was being directed at him from the furious priest.

"Oh, and is that your 'expert opinion'? Let me tell you something, Hakkai…"

"You fuckin' idiot." Gojyo decided to jump on the interruption bandwagon, this time to stick up for his best friend. Sanzo immediately transferred his glare from Hakkai to the kappa, hand inching towards his gun.

"It sounds to me like they don't want to kill this fucker, they want to keep it alive for as long as possible for, I dunno, study or some shit. And what does your gun do? It banishes Youkai with one hit. What does the sutra do? It purifies Youkai with one hit. Face it; you'd be pretty much useless for keeping this thing alive."

Hakkai sent a genuine smile in Gojyo's direction, glad that someone had understood where he was headed. Sanzo just grunted, seeing the logic but not wanting to admit that he'd been bested. He stalked towards the window, lighting a cigarette on the way. "Fine, work it out between yourselves, idiots. See if I care."

Hakkai cleared his throat, turning to face Gojyo and Goku. "Well, I have much the same problem that Sanzo has; my chi is much better suited to eliminating targets than just stopping them." He refused to let his annoyance at the situation show; yes, he had a great amount of anger to work off, but this wasn't the proper situation to do it in.

Gojyo's face broke into a lazy grin, and he reached over to mess up Goku's hair. "Well then, it's me and you, monkey. Let's hit the road." Goku groaned, muttering something about working with pervy kappas, which Gojyo promptly ignored as he walked out the door. Hakkai found himself stifling his laughter when the last thing he heard before the door swung shut was Goku complaining about being hungry, turning back to where Sanzo was leaning against the window sill. When he noticed that the priest was watching him inquisitively, he met the hard gaze with a blankly polite smile.

"You've got that look again." Sanzo's tone was mocking, and Hakkai's smile tightened infinitesimally. He was careful to keep his tone light in reply, though. "Whatever do you mean, Sanzo?"

The priest stubbed his cigarette out on the sill, much to Hakkai's disgust. Even though he was constantly around two smokers, he still found anything to do with cigarettes repulsive.

"I mean, that you look like you don't want to let him out of your sight." Sanzo had learned to read Hakkai's moods almost as well as Gojyo, though he was much less obvious about it. That was the thing about staying silent; it allowed a person to be a lot more observant.

"I'm sorry, Sanzo, you must be mistaken. Gojyo is a grown man and he can look after himself…well, except when it comes to remembering garbage day, of course."

Sanzo snorted in disgust, straightening up and walking towards the door. As he passed the healer he paused, speaking in a low voice. "Don't fuck with me. I can tell that you're jealous about how much time he's spending with his twin…don't let your blue balls impair your judgement."

With that, Sanzo moved out of the room, leaving Hakkai alone to try and work out why the monk was saying such things. He wasn't jealous; he didn't own Gojyo. They were best friends, and he liked having Gojyo around. But he wasn't about to try and tie the man down…right?

* * *

Gojyo wandered in the door of the Koneko like he owned the place; after all, he'd spent enough time there lately that it almost felt like a home. Goku was trailing behind, slower than Gojyo because he kept getting distracted by every little thing. Glancing around and not seeing anyone, he headed straight for the mission room.

"Hello~o? Anyone ho~me?" Gojyo listened, hearing footsteps coming up the stairs from the basement. He flashed a smile when he saw it was Ken, trying not to turn the expression into a leer. '_What can I say, the guy's cute. Maybe I could talk Yohji into…hmmm…'_

"Omi and Aya are down there waiting, and I've got not clue where Yohji's gotten to. Have fun." When Ken looked past the redhead and saw Goku, he smiled wider. "Hey, man, we've gotta play football again some time. Hit me up, okay?"

Gojyo shook his head, having never really gotten interested in sports. A guy got plenty of exercise from sex and assassinations, so it seemed kinda pointless to spend all day running up and down a field.

He was a little glad, though, that Yohji wasn't going on the mission; he didn't know whether he'd be able to keep his hands to himself otherwise. He'd seen Yohji's leather trench/tiny crop-top combo that he called a 'mission outfit', and it was hot. It actually made Gojyo wonder if he should start wearing working clothes that were a little flashier; he may as well flaunt what he had!

Walking down the stairs to the mission room, Gojyo sighed a little. Another day, another job…

"Alright, let's get this shit over with so that I can spend some 'quality time' with your oldest teammate." Gojyo smiled when Omi looked around at him, scandalised, and Aya just glared at him. Ahhh, just like working with Sanzo. The similarities were a little unsettling.

"Kappa, no one wants to hear about your pervy sex life! Keep your prick in your pants for once." Goku wandered into the room, walking right over to drop down on the couch, right where Ken had just been sitting. He sent an enthusiastic greeting in Omi's direction, which was returned just as happily. Gojyo almost stared in disbelief, still finding it odd that these two kids were trained killers. They were just so damned happy…

"What have you got, Omi?" Aya finally spoke up, prompting the beginning of the briefing. Omi sat up straight, pulling an envelope from his pocket and spreading a pile of photographs around the table in front of the couch.

"The target's apartment is on the second floor, here." He gestured to a couple of pictures, pointing out the right door from different angles. "Abyssinian, you'll be going to the apartment. Gojyo, Goku and I will be keeping watch from these trees here, just in case you cannot contain him or something goes wrong. This is strictly a preservation mission; we are to try and keep the target alive at all costs."

Aya grunted in agreement, and Goku was sitting perfectly still, taking in all the details of the photos. Gojyo took a moment to look up from the table into Omi's eyes, and what he saw there was perfectly aligned with the cold-hearted killers he'd met over the years. The kid was young, but there was nothing innocent about the look in his eyes while he explained the plan.

"Oh, and another thing; during the mission, Aya and I are only to be referred to as Abyssinian and Bombay, respectively. It's just procedure, but it's safer for us that way." Codenames; something that Gojyo thought was just plain odd. The Ikkou had always just referred to each other by their actual names; all the Chinese groups had.

"Alright, so when's go-time?" Gojyo checked his watch, wondering whether he'd have time to track Yohji down before the mission. He heard an annoyed 'ugh' noise and looked up, seeing Aya glare at him. The look on the man's face made it clear that he knew exactly what Gojyo was thinking; so naturally, Gojyo leered right back at the pale man, causing him to look away and…blush? Nah, it must just have been the lighting in the room.

Omi was oblivious to all this, still engrossed in the photos, along with Goku. Without looking up, he answered, "We'll be meeting up at nineteen hundred hours, here." Pulling a map from the envelope, Omi indicated to a spot, making sure that everyone saw the street names.

"So…we're done here?" Omi nodded in response to Gojyo's question, and the redhead smiled. "Oh well, things to see, people to do…I'll meet you guys later."

Walking towards the stairs, Gojyo saw Aya push away from the wall and follow him, still keeping his distance from the blonde. The kappa pulled his cell phone from his pocket, hitting speed dial to call Yohji. When he reached the top of the stairs, though, he thought he heard a familiar ringtone; cancelling the call, he watched as Yohji sauntered in through the back door.

"Well that's weir-…Oh, hey! How's tricks, Gorgeous?" Yohji had his phone halfway to his ear, looking up to see Gojyo standing in the hall. His face broke into a self-assured smirk, which only got worse when the redhead swaggered over, grabbed the front of his shirt and started dragging him in the direction of the bedroom.

"Idiots." The insult was muttered from the top of the stairs, Aya standing there with a look of disgust on his striking features. Yohji simply laughed, but Gojyo stopped moving, which made the blonde walk straight into his back. He covered the accident well though, winding his arms around his lover's waist and dropping his chin onto Gojyo's shoulder.

"Ouch, Aya! C'mon, man, don't be like that…You wanna come too? Always room for one more…" Gojyo winked at the sullen redhead, making a show of looking up and down his body….which was quite nice, the kappa had decided. Because his eyes were somewhere near Aya's crotch at the time, Gojyo missed the flash of desire that crossed the swordsman's face…but Yohji didn't.

The blonde decided to put that little bit of information away for later use.

Aya turned and stalked towards the kitchen, leaving the two playboys alone. Yohji turned his head, whispering into the half-breed's hair. "Y'know, if he didn't think you were joking, he probably would have agreed…"

"Oh, yeah? Well, who wouldn't want some of this…?" Reaching his arm back, Gojyo pinched Yohji's ass, making the blonde jump slightly and rub against him.

"Bed. Now." This time, Yohji took the reins, releasing his hold on the redhead to lead the way to privacy. Not that either of them had any problem with simply having sex right there in the hall; the bedroom was really just comfier.

Gojyo laughed, trotting along behind the blonde. He had plenty of time until the mission; and what better way to spend it, than with his new favourite obsession?

* * *

Aya stomped into the kitchen, muttering things about 'audacity', 'pricks' and 'stupid fucking nymphomaniacs". Those two just couldn't leave him alone, could they? Nooo, they just had to flaunt the fact that their sex lives were ridiculously active at every possible opportunity, didn't they?

But it wasn't like Yohji didn't already flirt with him at every turn; and it usually didn't make him this angry…maybe it was because Gojyo had been the one to say it, and he didn't even know the man?

Sitting at the kitchen table, Aya prodded at his emotions a little, trying to figure out where this bad mood- a 'worse than usual' bad mood- had come from.

And then it hit him.

He was horny, and the fact that he'd just been offered a threesome, no matter how obnoxiously, wasn't really helping. Not to mention the fact that his dream kept replaying in his mind, sending tiny shivers of lust down his body whenever he remembered the way that…

He dropped his head into his hands, sighing in irritation. How long had it been since he'd touched another person intimately? Casting his mind back, Aya sat directly upright again as he realised; he hadn't had sex since the night before he had left Crashers, when he'd finally relented to Knight's advances…and that had been around two years ago! '_No wonder I'm waking up like __**that**__ more often lately…I should really be above such base reactions…I just need more discipline.'_

Standing up, Aya decided that he had more important things to do than sit about brooding; there was a mission starting soon, and he needed to make sure that his sword had been properly polished.

And if some small, quiet part of Aya's mind made an inappropriate comment from that last thought, he was sure to ignore it entirely.

* * *

Leaning back against the tree trunk, Gojyo tried to get comfortable; who's great idea was it to keep watch from the fucking trees? He could see Goku off to the side, sort of bouncing up and down; '_He's gonna fall if he doesn't calm the fuck down!'_

His earpiece crackled into life, and he heard the deep voice of Ay-…sorry, Abyssinian, as if the man was talking right next to him. "Approaching the target now. Abyssinian out."

'_Finally!' _Gojyo straightened up, summoning his Shakujou and moving so that he had a clear view of the apartment through the branches. He watched as Abyssinian walked inside the building; and naturally, he couldn't help but think about how damned good the man looked in all that leather.

He was pulled from his daydream as the window of the apartment smashed open, Abyssinian being thrown through the air by something that definitely looked like a Youkai. The demon was obviously trying to get away; Gojyo was about to throw out his chain when three darts stopped the Youkai in its tracks, sending him right towards where Goku was jumping to the ground.

The kid hadn't summoned his Nyoi-bo, and when the demon barrelled towards him, there was nothing to block the path. Even so, Gojyo was shocked when Goku was knocked back like he weighed nothing; he knew for a fact that the kid could hold his ground, and so the Youkai must have been damned strong.

'_Oh well, looks like it's up to me…'_ Flinging out his Shakujou, Gojyo managed to wrap it around the creature's legs, slowing it down; but the demon didn't fall, and the immense strain on the weapon made Gojyo wonder if it was going to break. This was no ordinary Youkai…

Just as the redhead thought he was going to be pulled from the tree, Goku appeared from behind, grabbing hold of the chain and yanking it as hard as he could, with a grunt of exertion. The chain finally tightened enough around the Youkai's legs to bring it down, and the creature fell to its knees, beginning to sob.

"I'M _HUMAN_!" The pure anguish in the demon's voice made Gojyo wince, but he was careful not to loosen his hold on the chain, not wanting to screw the mission up and let the Youkai escape. Abyssinian ran into his line of sight, darting up to the Youkai with his sword raised in defence. "Tell us who did this; we can stop them!"

The creature howled, and Bombay ran towards it with sadness written all over his face. "We can't turn you back. I'm sorry."

Gojyo jumped down from the tree, still keeping a hold on his Shakujou, just in case. Warily, he and Goku joined the Weiss members, wanting to hear what the Youkai had to say. When Goku nudged him in the side, he leant down so that the monkey could whisper to him. "Kappa, the energy coming off the guy isn't…right. It doesn't feel like a Youkai."

Gojyo nodded, having come to same conclusion himself. Maybe it was just because the guy had started off human…he didn't really know. The creature screamed again, its voice cracking and wavering. "BUT I-…"

Gojyo's head flicked up when the tortured voice cut off, a strange whine ripping from the Youkai's throat. Before he could see what had happened, though, he found himself instinctively ducking and rolling to the side; someone had shot at him. Taking cover behind a tree, he looked over to see that Goku had done the same thing, and that Abyssinian and Bombay were rushing towards four men…until they simply stopped.

Gojyo couldn't figure it out; why had they just gone still? Sure, the two of them couldn't have taken on the four men that had appeared out of nowhere, especially when there were guns involved, but still…?

A weak moan caught Gojyo's attention, and as he turned towards the source of the noise, from the corner of his eye he could see the four strangers disappearing into nothingness, as the two Weiss men dropped to the ground. With his gaze now on the Youkai, he could see the throwing knife sticking out of the demon's chest, right where its heart would have been.

Dragging himself up from the ground, Omi stumbled over to the Youkai, and Gojyo ran over to join him. It was clear that the wound was fatal; the mission was a failure. '_Oh, fuck, where's Hakkai when you need him? He's the only one who could save this poor bastard.' _

The creature's eyes fluttered open, and it struggled for breath. "K-…Ko…rin…"

The body went slack, eyes closing as the deeply-embedded knife did its job. Gojyo looked up at Bombay, wondering if the kid understood what the Youkai had been trying to say. Blue eyes were wide in shock, and Gojyo could almost see brain cogs turning. "Korin? Could that be…Korin Pharmaceuticals?"

Bombay turned to Abyssinian, who nodded. "It's a solid lead."

"Shit!" Gojyo swore, picking up the handle of his weapon to banish it back to…wherever it went. "Who the Hell were those four fuckers?"

Omi sighed, standing up from where he had been kneeling beside the demon. "Them? That was Schwarz, a group of assassins who seem to always be two steps ahead of us. But why were they here? Don't they usually follow…Takatori…" Omi's eyes widened again, like he'd had a brainwave. "Of course! Aya, we have to get back now. This may not have been a total failure."

Omi ran off, heading for where Aya had parked his car, far away from the main street. Aya nodded, sheathing his katana and straightening his coat. "Let's go, you two. I'll drive you; save any questions for later."

Gojyo and Goku looked at each other, shrugged, and set off behind the taciturn redhead. Gojyo did have a few questions; but he also knew that Weiss would have a few of their own. He'd caught the look of shock on Omi's face when the chain around the Youkai had simply vanished; but the kid had been surprisingly professional about ignoring it.

Oh well, time for the Spanish Inquisition.

* * *

It was well after midnight, but all of the Ikkou and three-quarters of Weiss were gathered in the Koneko living room, waiting for Omi to finish his computer search. It was apparently easier for him to concentrate in silence; so the others were relegated to an awkward question-and-answer session at the other end of the house, after a quick debriefing.

Gojyo was the first to ask; draped over the couch with his head in Yohji's lap, where calloused fingers were absent-mindedly playing with red hair, he directed his attention at Aya. He knew he would have gotten a better answer from Omi, but he'd work with what he had. "So, Aya. When you two were rushing those guys, why did you just…stop?"

Purple eyes flashed a disgusted glare in his direction, and Gojyo's head was jolted slightly as Yohji started to laugh. "Oh, Aya, did you get done in by that kid again? I guess that an unstoppable force really does beat the immovable object!"

Gojyo turned his gaze upwards, looking at Yohji for an explanation. The blonde looked down, smiling. "Well, I guess you haven't heard. Schwarz are…well, they're not quite your average humans. Did you see the little guy? Yeah, he's telekinetic; can stop even this stubborn bastard in his tracks."

"Woah!" Goku looked and sounded impressed, a goofy smile on his face. "That's so cool! What about the rest of 'em? There was four, right?"

"Oh, wow! The monkey can count!" Gojyo couldn't help it; the answer was basically pure instinct by now, as was Goku's reply of 'stupid pervy kappa'. It also wasn't surprising in the least when Sanzo, standing right next to where Goku was sitting on the ground against the wall, kicked out to the side and told his team to 'shut the Hell up, idiots'. Hakkai forgot to finish off the routine with a polite laugh, as he was too busy looking anywhere but at where Gojyo had his head resting in another man's lap.

Yohji waited until that had died down before speaking again. "Yeah, they have four…guess it's some sort of crazy assassin code or something to have four members on each team, hey? Anyway, did you get a decent look at them? No? Well, there's one with an eyepatch, who doesn't seem to feel pain. There's a guy with orange hair- tends to wear way too much green- who can read minds, and a dude with glasses who sees the future. Pretty trippy, no?"

Gojyo thought about it, and came to the conclusion that he'd seen weirder things. Believing in psychic powers was just another item in a long line of odd shit that happened on a day-to-day basis. "So, they're basically like your nemesis…nemesises?"

"Nemeses, dipshit." Gojyo waved an arm lazily at Sanzo, not really worried about the details of proper language. He looked back up at Yohji. "Yeah, so that?"

"I guess you could put it like that. Kinda sucks, 'cause they see our every move before we do…" Ken murmured his agreement from the other side of the room, reflexively cracking his knuckles.

Gojyo was just about to reply when he heard someone clear their throat, and everyone in the room turned towards the other redhead, standing with his arms crossed in the corner. Aya didn't say anything more, though, and Gojyo wondered if he was actually just starved for attention. Silent seconds passed, until the swordsman finally spoke. "What was that sickle and chain you had earlier?"

He'd known the question was going to come up sooner or later. Well, it's easier to show than explain…sitting up properly, Gojyo looked around to make sure he had a captive audience. "Oh, you mean this old thing?"

Reaching his arm out, the redhead felt the familiar tingle that meant his weapon was about to be summoned. The familiar weight materialised in his hand, and he had to resist the urge to swing it around a bit, not wanting to break anything. "That's…that's awesome!" Yohji hadn't seen Gojyo demonstrate anything related to his demon side, and he was pretty impressed.

Sliding his hand underneath the crescent blade, Gojyo grabbed the cool metal and yelled to Goku. "Monkey, catch!"

Throwing the blade at the kid so that the chain would extend, Gojyo smirked when Goku summoned his Nyoi-bo, hitting the end of the sickle to deflect it towards the floor. Yohji and Ken clapped, surprise clear over their faces. Hakkai applauded lightly, his polite smile back in place now that Gojyo was keeping a respectable distance from his new 'friend'. Aya and Sanzo still just glared, neither of them geared towards childish displays.

"Holy shit, you've both got 'em? Is that some sort of demon thing?" Yohji flinched on instinct when the chain stretching across the room disappeared, wondering where it'd gone.

Gojyo laughed, sheepishly. "Ah haha, well you see, the thing about that is…"

He was cut off by Sanzo, who managed to sound like he was trying to kill by the power of his voice alone. "The idiot half-breed and the idiot monkey were fighting instead of cleaning, and they managed to ruin a priceless artefact we were keeping in the temple."

"Yeah, apparently they were trying to seal away these awesome things, 'cause they've got demon energy or some shit. Really, we should be thanked for getting at 'em before all the evil guys could…and it was the monkey's fault anyway." Gojyo was prepared for the monkey to start arguing; and he wasn't disappointed.

"Says you, kappa! You started it!"

"Oh, yeah? I reckon if you weren't borderline retarded, you'd never have knocked it over!"

"I'm not retarded, asshole! Stupid lechy idiot!"

"Don't be jealous that the ladies love me, monkey…oh, and the men!" Gojyo leant over, kissing Yohji on the lips. Before they could get too heated, though, a loud crack rang out through the room, and a bullet flew past the pair and lodged itself in the wall, right next to the hole that the playboys had made just days earlier. "Shut up, you two! No one gives a shit who broke it; you're just as bad as each other!"

"Sanzo!" Hakkai was momentarily shocked that the priest would shoot a hole through someone's house…but then he thought about it, and wasn't surprised at all. Still, it wasn't a polite thing to do…and that didn't even consider Gojyo's behaviour! The healer wasn't jealous; he just had common human decency, unlike some people…

"Don't fuck my house up, dickhead!" Aya snarled across the room, hand instinctively reaching for where his sword would usually sit. Two pairs of violet eyes locked, and the room's other occupants went still and silent, tension crackling like electricity in the air.

Just as Yohji thought that he'd have to run buffer and stop a fight, Omi wandered into the room, drawing Aya and Sanzo's attention to himself. He winced as two harsh glares hit him, before straightening up and putting on an impassive front.

"I've made a breakthrough. Aya, Sanzo, Hakkai; I'll fill you three in first. Come on."


	7. Chapter 7

*******I should point out: I'm assuming that the Saiyuki guys have all the knowledge that they had by the end of 'Reload', as well as some bits and pieces that I'm not sure they even know in canon. It's also possible that the rest of this fic could have some light spoilers for that manga series; nothing too serious, though. I've also never really seen any Saiyuki anime: I'm running solely from the two series of manga, so some details may be slightly altered at points, I don't know.*******

* * *

Sanzo, Aya and Hakkai filed into the study after Omi, with Hakkai diplomatically placing himself between the still-fuming pair. Omi was clearly trying his best to ignore the tension in the room, and with his back to the other three, he couldn't see the filthy glares being exchanged between the blonde and redhead.

Opening up a number of files, Omi began gesturing to the screen as he rapidly spoke. "I started investigating Korin Pharmaceuticals. When I managed to hack into their system, there were a number of misplaced files, and that seemed really weird. There was a bizarre encryption on 'em when I eventually found them, and so I had to…"

Sanzo had very little interest in the hacking adventures of the youngest Weiss member; although his body language implied that he was listening, his mind had wandered when Omi had begun to get technical.

From the corner of his eye, when Hakkai leant forward for a closer look at the screen, Sanzo could see Aya. The man wasn't even trying to hide his disinterest; his gaze was darting all across the room.

'_He really is a good-looking little prick…'_ When Aya looked towards Sanzo, the blonde turned his head for just a split second before looking back at the screen; ergo he missed the light flush that crept over the redhead's cheeks, accompanied quickly by a venomous glare.

"…and, after I pieced together those particular files, I found that there is some sort of major research going on at the company's facilities. The signs pointed towards it being genetics, and get this: the main team is headed by the company's president."

Sanzo found nothing of interest whatsoever in that statement, and he felt his gaze beginning to slide around the room again. It was solely because of this that he saw a most odd occurrence…

"This is the company president: Takatori Masafumi." The name meant nothing to Sanzo, but he could see that it obviously fired up one of the room's occupants.

As Omi read the name, Aya's eyes widened, before narrowing into an expression that was harsher than anything Sanzo had ever witnessed. The man's entire body tensed, and there was a small drop of blood that ran down from where Aya's nails had dug into his palm.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the flood of tension vanished, leaving only a blank mask over the redhead's features.

The others didn't notice a single thing, and the sole trace that suggested that Sanzo hadn't simply imagined the whole incident was a small red mark, where Aya had pressed his bleeding palm against his light-coloured shirt.

Sanzo filed the name that Omi had mentioned into his memory for future reference; it had obviously meant something very important to the enigmatic man standing on Hakkai's other side.

"I also discovered that the company has recently acquired an anonymous benefactor; now, I can't be completely certain about this, but it seems that the new backer is some sort of highly influential figure in China."

Sanzo snapped his face back towards the screen, where Omi was pointing to some completely indecipherable sections of code. A Chinese financier? Was it related to the research being done regarding the mutant Youkai?

"Is there any way to find out who it is?" Hakkai's quiet tone broke through Sanzo's contemplation, giving voice to the question that blonde had been thinking himself.

Omi swung his chair around, facing the other three men. He shook his head, mouth twisting sadly. "They've been very careful not to mention any name whatsoever, even in the encrypted files."

Sanzo sighed. '_Why can't the evil assholes slip up every once in a while? They're always just so damned perfect_…_'_

"But there's one more thing. On the same date that the new funds appeared, references to a new scientist also popped up. It's possible that this man is connected to the mysterious sponsor." Omi rolled his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger, deep in thought.

"Did he have a name?" This time, it was Aya who spoke. The man looked perfectly calm, but Sanzo couldn't lose the memory of that finely-boned face contorted in tense rage for an all-too-brief moment.

Something of the man's inner self had appeared in that second, and Sanzo wanted to know why. It was a certain morbid curiosity.

However, thoughts of Aya were pushed to the back of Sanzo's head with Omi's next line. "The man is referred to solely as Doctor Ni."

'_Ni Jianyi…that __**fucker!'**_

* * *

Back in the living room, Yohji and Gojyo had found themselves alone. As soon as Omi had taken three of the group away, Gojyo had flopped back down into Yohji's lap, reaching his hand up to trace over the slightly-stubbled chin above him.

Ken had taken one look at the men on the couch and high-tailed it from the room, grabbing Goku along the way and muttering something about food.

Yohji had laughed, thinking about how perceptive Ken could be when he wanted to. That'd soon stopped when he'd looked back down, and seen the look of pure lust on Gojyo's face.

Using speed that seemed faster than what a human could achieve, Gojyo was suddenly straddling Yohji's tightly-clad legs, pushing his groin down to connect with the blonde's own.

"They could come back at any second, y'know." Despite his words, Yohji had a leer on his face and he was running his hands up under Gojyo's shirt. The redhead shivered, making his tone as seductive as he could to answer.

"But that just makes it so…much…hotter…" He nipped at Yohji's neck between the last three words, the blonde man's hands slipping around to his back to press him even more firmly against Yohji's growing erection.

Gojyo moaned at the pleasure of the contact, but the noise was swallowed up as experienced lips closed over his own, Yohji's tongue slipping into his open mouth. Tanned fingers gripped lightly in messy blonde hair, but they were forced to momentarily let go as Yohji slipped Gojyo's tank top over his head and onto the floor.

Getting lost in another kiss, Gojyo's hand began to instinctively creep downwards, opening Yohji's pants just enough so that his fingers could reach inside.

Yohji moaned, breaking the kiss as he forced his eyes to open back up. The sound cut off as he caught sight of four men in the doorway; though that number was quickly reduced as Omi let out a weak squeal and dashed towards the kitchen.

Gojyo, noticing the sudden tension in Yohji's body, looked over his own shoulder to the source of the disturbance. Sighing in mock irritation, he removed his hand from Yohji's jeans, buttoning the man back in again and standing up. "So, I'm guessing from the looks on your faces that there'll be no five-way tonight. Damn."

The next moment, Gojyo was ducking as Sanzo's fan flew towards his face, Hakkai was looking utterly scandalised, Yohji had tipped onto his side across the couch from laughter, and Aya was simply…blank.

Sanzo stomped into the room, grabbing his fan before taking another swing at Gojyo, just for good measure.

"Stupid horny bastards," the blonde muttered as he walked towards the door, "I'm leaving."

"Ah, I believe I'll join you, Sanzo. I'm assuming that we'll see you tomorrow, Gojyo?" Hakkai's voice seemed odd to the kappa, but for the life of him he couldn't decide why.

"Yeah, 'Kai. Oh, and If you're looking for the monkey, he's in the kitchen…I think."

Hakkai nodded, walking after Sanzo without another word. As he turned, his elbow brushed against Aya's stomach, but to Gojyo's utter shock there was no polite apology. Generally, Hakkai didn't even need to make contact to apologise; something was wrong with this picture.

Crimson eyes flicked back and for the between the doorway and the couch, Gojyo trying to decide whether he should go after Hakkai or not. Eventually, the need to make sure that his best friend was okay overruled his libido, and the kappa grabbed his shirt before dashing out of the room, shoving past Aya in his hurry.

Raising a single eyebrow as his gaze followed Gojyo, Aya turned and left in the opposite direction. Yohji was left to his own devices in the living room, a situation which he really didn't like.

Being bitched at was bad; being completely ignored was worse.

* * *

"Hakkai! Wait, 'Kai!" Ignoring the fact that it was ridiculously early in the morning, and most of the people in the surrounding buildings would have been asleep, Gojyo ran up to the healer, shouting. '_Damn, but he walks fast…outside already?'_

"Please, Gojyo, have a little consideration. People are probably trying to sleep." Hakkai didn't turn towards his friend; instead, he merely kept walking forwards, head held high.

Face wrinkled in confusion, Gojyo reached out and grabbed Hakkai's arm, forcing him to stop walking and turn around. The redhead didn't release his grip, but he did soften his hand from forceful to comforting.

"What the Hell's going on, 'Kai? Something's seriously up with you tonight…today?"

The brunette brushed Gojyo's hand away, stepping back to stay out of his reach. Hakkai didn't miss the flash of hurt that crossed tanned features, lit only by a weak streetlight; he answered only with a mask of pure detached courtesy.

"You need to talk to me, Hakkai. It'll only hurt worse if you bottle everything up. Seriously, just look at San-…"

"How can I talk to you when you're never around?"

Gojyo's sentence was cut short, but his mouth stayed open in disbelief. The brunette's mask had finally fallen, replaced by an angry expression and a hissed tone that wouldn't have been out of place coming from Sanzo.

Blinking in silence, the kappa went to reach out for his best friend, only to drop his hand when Hakkai flinched away. The brunette turned to the side, throwing his head back and closing his eyes to the night.

"Gojyo, I…it's ridiculous, but…I miss you." The anger was gone, replaced by a deep sadness that Gojyo recognised with a flash of panic. This was what the redhead called Hakkai's 'Kanan Voice': the tone that the healer used whenever the pain of the past became too much for him.

"I don't understand, 'Kai…do you think I'm abandoning you?" The pieces were slowly starting to fall together for Gojyo, even if the picture made no sense whatsoever.

"I don't know what I think anymore!" Hakkai's voice took on the slightest hint of hysteria, before the man cleared his throat and turned back to Gojyo, lowering his head until their eyes were even. "Gojyo, I really don't feel like having this conversation right now."

'_Shit, the mask is back,' _Gojyo realised with dismay. It looked like Hakkai was going to keep everything to himself again…not likely, if Gojyo had anything to say about it.

"Hakkai. You're my best friend; you've saved my life so many goddamned times that if I thanked you for every single one, we'd be here for weeks. I voluntarily joined up with Kritiker to make sure that we wouldn't be separated. Before we got shipped to this fucking country, we lived together for years. I trust you more than I do anyone else; and beyond that, I love you. I might not be in love with you, but I definitely love you, 'Kai."

There was a small smile from Hakkai, almost invisible in the dimly-lit street. Gojyo took a tentative step forward, and when the brunette opened his arms, Gojyo grabbed the shorter man in a hug.

There was nothing sexual about the contact, and neither was Gojyo's mind on seduction when he pressed his lips against a silver-cuffed ear, whispering softly. "You know me, 'Kai: when I know something isn't going to last, I try to get as much of it as I can as quickly as possible. Whatever it is that I have with Yohji, it's going to turn to nothing more than friendship as soon as we get sent home. He understands that, and we're both just trying to enjoy the moment. You'd be fully welcome to enjoy the moment with us, if you want…"

Gojyo felt his friend's shoulders start to shake, and for a split second he thought that Hakkai had begun to cry. When the brunette started laughing aloud, though, Gojyo couldn't help but join in. "I'll take that as a 'no', then!"

"Yes, I think you'd better, Gojyo. You're more than enough for me, so I think that having Yohji in bed as well would put a little too much strain on my poor body. Oh, and I suppose that if you're running around with Yohji, you're not risking your life by flirting with Sanzo, so that's always a positive."

Gojyo pulled away from Hakkai, his smile disappearing as his face turned perfectly serious. "There's something I want you to always remember. I might fuck Yohji, I might fuck women, and I'll hopefully fuck Sanzo's cute little ass one day, but you're always going to mean more to me than any of them. Just because I'm sleeping with someone else doesn't mean that I don't need you; after all, sex between us is just a fun bonus tacked onto our friendship. The only one of them that I'd ever be friends with is Yohji, and he's definitely too much of a bad influence to replace you."

Hakkai looked at the ground, and although Gojyo couldn't make out the brunette's face anymore, he had a sneaking suspicion that the other man was blushing furiously. Just as Hakkai raised his face, about to speak, he was cut off by Sanzo appearing in the street with Goku in tow.

"Finally got it through your fat head, did we, you idiot half-breed? Good, because I won't have you fucking my team up simply because you're horny." The priest breezed through the alley, interrupting the quiet moment. Gojyo didn't bother replying, just flipping the bird to the back of Sanzo's head.

When the blonde stopped and turned, Gojyo was hit by an irrational fear that Sanzo had eyes in the back of his head. He certainly didn't expect the priest's next comment, and he sure as Hell had no witty comeback.

"Oh, by the way, kappa: I'm a top. The chances of me bottoming for you are somewhere below zero."

With that, Sanzo walked away, ignoring Goku's rapid-fire questions about what that had meant, and whether he could get some food. Gojyo just stared at the disappearing figures, until finally turning to Hakkai with a lecherous grin. "Fuck me, he heard that and I'm still alive! You're okay with the idea of me letting him take my ass, right? Because if you're not, speak up now and I won't go any further."

Hakkai shivered slightly, the idea more than okay with him- Hell, the idea of his two ridiculously good-looking teammates together like that…

"Ah, I think I can allow that, Gojyo. Unless I'm severely mistaken, Sanzo just indirectly hit on you. I can tell how much you want it; feel free to go right ahead."

He truly was fine with the scenario; Hakkai understood that it was in Gojyo's nature to follow his dick wherever it wanted to go, and his insecurities had been soothed by Gojyo's kind words. He'd known perfectly well that the redhead wasn't going to leave him alone, but there was some small part of his brain that had whispered about how much more handsome, how much more experienced, and how much more fun Yohji was than himself.

He'd just needed reassurance; and that was what he had received. Even if he had come out looking more like a jealous boyfriend than a platonic mate.

"You're the best friend a guy could wish for, Hakkai. Now, next time just slap me upside the head and tell me to come home. Don't let shit build up, because the last thing I want is for you to be feeling bad."

"Alright, Gojyo. I will."

The redhead beamed, grabbing Hakkai and lifting him up slightly in a tight hug. "Now, let's go get some sleep, beautiful. Just give me a sec to go tell Yohji that I'm going back to the hotel, alright?"

Hakkai nodded, expecting to be left in the street until his friend returned. However, when Gojyo let him out of the hug, his arm was grabbed and he was tugged back into the house behind the Koneko.

* * *

Yohji was still on the couch, debating whether it was better to go upstairs and enjoy his comfortable bed, or to conserve energy and just crash in the living room. He looked up at the sound of soft laughter, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of Gojyo wandering through the doorway with his arm slung over Hakkai's shoulder.

"Sorry, Yohj, but I'm going back to the hotel tonight. It's been too long since I've had any quality time with 'Kai."

Although he was being ditched, Yohji didn't feel any resentment towards the brunette. Judging by Gojyo's actions just before he'd run out of the room, something had been pretty wrong; something that had just been fixed up.

"See you two later, then. Don't keep Hakkai up too much longer though, you kinky bastard." With a wink, Yohji alleviated any guilt that Gojyo might have been feeling, and the pair in the doorway waved their goodbyes. Sitting back up again, Yohji finally gathered the will to move to his room, lazily standing up and wandering through the house.

Walking through the hallway, he closed his eyes and yawned loudly, only to have the breath knocked out of him as he connected hard with someone else. Emerald eyes snapped open, only to simultaneously regret looking into Aya's furious glare, and be ecstatic that he caught the man in the rare half-naked moment between leaving the shower and retreating to his room.

What? The man had perfect abs.

"Sorry 'bout that, Ayan." The line was delivered with a bright smile, leaving no doubt that Yohji felt no remorse whatsoever. Aya seemed to forget that fact that he usually tried to avoid being in any state of undress around the lecherous blonde, instead holding his ground to chew Yohji out.

"Well, maybe if you didn't constantly have your head in the fucking clouds, you'd be more aware of what was going on around you. I'm serious, Kudoh: you're damn near becoming a hindrance to…Kudoh, my face is up here." Aya's tone changed from furious to insane when he realised that the blonde wasn't paying any attention to the lecture, rather choosing to stare at the swordsman's bare torso while he had the opportunity.

Yohji laughed, still not looking up: he'd heard that line once or twice in his time- though never from a man. "I know that. And it's a very nice face, it really is, but I get to see that all the time. You know, I might just have to confiscate all your shirts; this is a good look for you."

Yohji could have sworn that he heard it when Aya's temper snapped; almost as if there was an audible breaking sound. Still, the fist that hit his jaw came as a shock and he didn't have time to dodge the blow. Falling back as Aya stood over him, Yohji prodded along his jaw, feeling the pain spike through his face.

Despite all that, he couldn't resist taking one more chance to make the other man as uncomfortable as possible. "Ouch, that's gonna leave quite the mark…but hey, I'm on the ground now. Wanna join me? Hallway sex is always really hot, believe me."

Aya's bare foot cracked against his ribs, though it didn't seem to do much more than bruise the area. The blonde groaned in pain, even though he knew that both hits had been fully deserved. He just didn't know when to stop…

Stepping over Yohji's curled-up form, Aya wrenched the door to his room open only to pause and look back at the man on the ground. Voice layered heavily with venom, he practically spat out the words, "You're all talk, Kudoh. Just leave me the fuck alone!"

Hand wrapped around his ribs, Yohji decided to rest in the middle of the hall for a while longer as he considered Aya's parting shot.

All talk? That couldn't possibly mean…Aya wanted to see some action? No. He must have meant something else…right?

A slow smile spread over Yohji's face, regardless of the fact that the pull on his tender jaw made it throb harder. He'd had more than his fair share of two-in-the-morning hallway confrontations, but this might just have turned out to be the most interesting of them all.


	8. Chapter 8

"Abyssinian here: you're clear." Aya clicked off his communicator, melting back into the shadows of the abandoned lab just in case someone unexpectedly came past. When the door quietly opened he dropped into a defensive position with his katana raised, but he relaxed infinitesimally when Ken slipped into the room, closely followed by Gojyo and Sanzo.

The other four men were working their way through Korin Pharmaceutical's compound from the opposite side, with both groups trying to find as much evidence as they could of the human mutation process. So far, it was a bust; every room that Aya had checked was either empty or completely trashed. From the periodic check-ins that Omi was calling through, the state of the other side was similarly useless. Had Schwarz warned Takatori that Kritiker were on his trail?

And for that matter, why were those psycho bastards working for the younger Takatori, and not his pig-fucker of a father?

Aya felt his heart rate begin to speed slightly, and he deliberately re-centred himself. '_Cold…calm…__**focused.**__'_

Stepping out of the shadows towards his group, Aya nodded once to Sanzo, who immediately slipped back through the door. Giving one last glance around the near-empty room as he waited for the next 'clear' call to come through, Aya tried to force his instincts into expanding upon the sense of unease he felt. The place shouldn't have been this stripped…what was going on?

Aya's earpiece clicked to life, and he heard a harsh whisper going straight into his ear. "Shit! It's Kougaiji; get the fuck out here!"

That made little to no sense for Aya, but he could see Gojyo's eyes widening, and the man dashed out of the room after Sanzo's quick call. Ken glanced over and shrugged, and the two Weiss men followed their Chinese counterparts.

Aya heard the confrontation before he saw it, Sanzo and Gojyo having disappeared around a corner.

"Give me the Sutra, Genjyo Sanzo!"

"Will you shut the fuck up about that? I should've _known_ that you'd follow that prick doctor out here. Still trying to build an army after that brainwashing crap failed miserably?"

"You'd better be prepared to die, you insolent priest bastard!"

"Bite me."

Catching up to the other two, Aya and Ken came to a stop next to Gojyo, with Sanzo a few steps ahead. To a casual observer, it would have seemed that the blonde was completely bored as a bronze-skinned redhead snarled menacingly at him; however, Aya could see the subtle tension that implied how defensive Sanzo currently was.

Looking past that pair, Aya glanced over at a tall, black-haired man and the slender woman who was standing beside him. The man appeared to be finding something very amusing, but the woman looked nervous, as if she was anxious about the idea of a confrontation.

The next thing he noticed was that none of the three looked…_human_. Their ears were far too pointed, their nails more like claws than anything else- and the snarling man was clearly showing off a set of what looked to be fangs, or incredibly sharp teeth.

'_They must be Youkai, even though they look nothing like that earlier mutant…this might be dangerous…' _Lifting his sword, Aya stepped up next to Sanzo, keeping a wary eye on the closest of the strange three. "Who are they?"

"The Youkai prince and his _minions_. They've got something to do with that secret investor." Sanzo spoke as if he was disgusted by the very thought, but he still maintained his bored façade.

Aya raised an eyebrow. He didn't _look _very royal; but that wasn't his main concern right now. He was more focused on the fact that the black-haired man had stepped closer, a large, completely unnatural-looking sword appearing in his hand.

"Give it up, Jie-…Dokugakuji. You're outnumbered." Aya heard Gojyo's drawl coming from behind him, and he sensed that the man had moved closer. The dark-haired swordsman turned towards Gojyo, smirking.

"I see one half-Youkai and three humans against three full-bloods. I like those odds, bro."

Deciding that Gojyo had that situation _relatively _under control, Aya looked further to the woman. She was still standing timidly behind the two men, head bowed slightly as she fiddled with her hands. Aya didn't trust it not to be an act, though. He'd seen similar things from very dangerous people.

Gojyo stepped forward past Aya, looking as if he was about to initiate a street fight. Aya's eyes narrowed at the unprofessional behaviour, only just resisting the urge to grab the back of Gojyo's shirt and beat some discipline into him. He was worse than Ken- amateurs, the lot of them.

Before anything else could happen, though, the strange redhead- who Aya took to be the leader- raised his head into the air as if listening intently. He lowered his eyes to look directly at Sanzo, glaring hard. "I'll be back for that Sutra. You got lucky this time; but feel free to sample the research."

Snapping his fingers loudly, there was the sound of heavy footsteps from around the corner. Shifting to be able to see both the coming disturbance and the three Youkai, Aya's hands tightened around his katana as the sound became a stampede. When five disgusting, hairy humanoids rounded the corner, followed by what sounded like a _lot_ more, Aya instinctively turned towards what he perceived to be the greater threat. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the three on his other side dash away.

"Fuck!" Sanzo voiced what Aya was thinking, both men clearly wanting to go after the disappearing strangers, despite the fact that it would be better- _much_ better- for the mission if they stayed to help Ken and Gojyo take down the small army of mutated human…things.

Aya noted in the back of his mind that Ken had already charged at the approaching group, his claws slashing directly through the throat of the closest creature. He couldn't see the man's face, and his instincts told him that may have been a good thing. His behaviour was becoming even more erratic of late…

Pushing those useless thoughts to the side, Aya turned fully towards the approaching group as Sanzo did the same. Gojyo had summoned his weapon, and was flinging the sharp blade at a pair of mutants who had gotten a little closer than they should have. With a violent spray of blood, the two fell to the floor as Gojyo quickly wiped his eyes clean.

By this point, Aya could no longer see Ken- the man had disappeared into the crowd of approaching creatures, which must have numbered at least twenty. Only the dying growls of the monsters signified his vague position among the mass.

A mutant lunged forward, claws extended for Aya's heart; its hands fell to the floor as the Youkai stopped, its golden eyes widening at the sight of the bloody stumps at the end of its arms. The katana was thrust straight into the creature's stomach and then ripped upwards as the thing fell to the ground, dead.

There were a lot of them, but they clearly weren't very smart; another lumbered straight towards Aya, only to find itself decapitated when it didn't even attempt to dodge the redhead's sword. One that ducked in from the side managed to connect its claws with Aya's arm, but the leather of his trench coat kept his skin intact as he swung his sword in a wide arc, cutting the creature straight across its torso.

When the steady 'bang' of Sanzo's gun fell silent, Aya quickly glanced to the side in case the man had been injured. Instead, what he saw took his breath away; it was like nothing else he had ever witnessed.

A group of five mutants were beginning to surround Sanzo, circling around the man like a pack of hungry dogs. Just as Aya was about to step forward to assist, though, he heard the man chanting in a voice that became progressively louder.

"…_On…Ma…Ni…Hatsu…Mei…Un! __**Makai Tenjyo!**__"_

An unnatural wind began to whip up around the blonde, sending his robes- an outfit which Aya had immediately deemed ridiculous for a mission- into a frenzy as a bright light began to grow. Suddenly, Sanzo flung out his hand and the _thing_ that he forever had draped over his shoulders transformed, sending out writhing tendrils to encase the creatures around him. In a flash of light, the 'arms' retreated, leaving behind five unmarked, but very dead, Youkai mutants.

As Aya stared, completely distracted from the fight going on around him, Sanzo shook back his hair and drew out his gun again, calmly picking off two more creatures with perfectly centred headshots.

"Abyssinian!" Aya heard Ken's shout just in time, only barely managing to turn his body away from the claws that were headed for his chest. Unable to completely dodge, he felt the sharp nails rip through leather _and _skin; luckily, though, it was his slightly weaker arm that had taken the blow. Raising his sword, he went to swing at the mutant that had gotten far closer than Aya should have allowed it- but his strike went through thin air as the creature fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from a hole in the back of its deformed skull.

Aya glared over at Sanzo, despite the fact that the man had already turned away. He didn't like feeling that he couldn't handle himself, even if he had been…_momentarily unfocused. _

As Gojyo swung his weapon out once more, the last three Youkai fell; one to the crescent blade, one to Ken's claws, and the third to Sanzo's gun. Mentally berating himself for his stupidity, Aya wiped his sword off on his coat; the thing was ruined anyway, thanks to the disintegrating sleeve. He was careful not to jolt his injured arm, which was bleeding quite badly- not that he was about to inform anyone of that fact. The stabbing ache was nothing. _'Pain is discipline.'_

Standing straight, Aya turned to the other three. "We need to keep going."

"But Abyssinian, you're hurt!" Ken received little more than a glare for his concern, making him mutter to himself about stubborn idiots. Aya ignored him, turning away to continue down the corridor.

"Bombay, report!" Snarling into his mouthpiece, Aya blocked out the three sets of footsteps he could hear following him. He couldn't afford to fuck up again; he couldn't lose this opportunity to take out part of the Takatori family.

"We had a run in with Schwarz…and a bunch of those mutants," Omi said, breathing hard. "We got the Youkai, but Schwarz escaped. Now, we're approaching the compound's core. How far away is your group?"

Aya looked around, mapping his position onto the blueprints in his head. Not stopping to allow the others to catch up, he instead increased his pace. "Not far. We'll meet you at the western entrance to the core."

"Affirmative." The connection broke, and Aya took off at a run. He heard Sanzo, Ken and Gojyo follow, and he lead the way towards the area he had designated to Omi.

Breathing through the pain shooting across his arm, he slowed to a walk as he approached the second group of men. They were all alive and standing; a positive outcome when Schwarz was involved. However, it had sounded like the team of psychics had pulled much the same move as that of the Youkai prince…odd…

"Did you find anything?"

"Not a fuckin' trace," Yohji drawled, turning to face Aya. He had blood streaking through his blonde hair, but otherwise seemed fine. The same went for the other three; Aya was disgusted to note that he seemed to be the only one who was injured in the slightest. Usually, he was the invincible assassin; what the Hell had happened?

"Hakkai. His left arm." Sanzo jerked his thumb towards Aya as he approached, gaining himself yet another glare. Aya didn't see the point to his statement, even as Hakkai walked up.

"Could you take your arm out of your coat, please?" Hakkai smiled reassuringly; not that it affected Aya's mood.

"What?"

"I can't do anything about that nasty-looking cut unless you take the coat off, Abyssinian. So please, let me see your bare arm." Aya still just glared suspiciously at the brunette, not making any attempt to comply with the request. He heard an annoyed sigh from behind him, and suddenly his injured limb was ripped from his coat.

"We don't have time for fucking about. Let him do his work." Sanzo sounded bored, and it was only the fact that Hakkai grabbed his arm that stopped Aya from turning around to hit the blonde.

"I apologise, but this may sting a little…"

"Don't you da-…" Aya bit off his words as Hakkai placed his hand over the gash, the pain momentarily intensifying as a small light seemed to come from the brunette's palm to envelope the injury.

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the glow disappeared…along with the pain. Looking down at his bicep as Hakkai stepped back, Aya just blinked.

There was nothing there, apart from an unmarked expanse of pale skin. The wound was completely gone.

"Woaahhh…" Yohji, who had been watching intently, stepped forward and jabbed his finger into Aya's arm where the gash had previously been. Aya slapped his hand away, growling in irritation; it hadn't hurt a single bit, though.

"Stand around gawking like idiots later. Get the fuck in that door," Sanzo snapped, taking the lead now that the groups were merged- probably from some sense of superiority about being the oldest. He pulled out his gun, leaning against the wall as he pushed the door open before cautiously looking around. Gesturing with his free hand, he waved the others forward the room before ducking inside.

Yet another empty laboratory greeted them: bare benches gleamed, stripped cupboards hung open, and there was no scientific equipment in sight. Everything had simply disappeared without a trace. Aya growled to himself; it was looking more and more like Takatori wasn't here.

"Abyssinian. We'll check this room," Sanzo pointed to a door on his left, "Hakkai and Gojyo, that one on the right. The rest of you, see if absolutely _anything_ has been left in here."

Aya scowled at being ordered around, but quickly followed after the blonde. He heard Hakkai and Gojyo open the door they had been sent off to, and the remaining six split around the lab to scour the room properly.

Peering through the darkened doorway, Aya couldn't make out any details in the room. Cautiously moving further in behind Sanzo, he looked around- the light bleeding from the laboratory wasn't helping at all. The room was still mostly pitch black.

Suddenly, the door swung shut with a loud bang and a number of bright lights flickered to life, like some sort of horror film cliché. Shielding his eyes from the intense glare, Aya looked around properly; the room was empty, apart from what seemed to be a surgical table of sorts, with a dark-haired man perched atop it.

"Abyssinian! What happened? Report! We can't get your door open!" Omi's voice sounded worried, but Aya ignored it. He directed his entire focus towards the strange man in the lab coat, who appeared to be watching Sanzo with great amusement. Aya could feel tension and fury rolling off the blonde in waves, the man standing defensively with his gun stretched towards the stranger.

"Abyssinian!" Aya growled in annoyance at Omi's second attempt, not taking his eyes off the dark-haired man as he bit out a reply.

"We're fine. Keep searching." He switched off his communicator completely, knowing that any more distractions tonight could prove fatal. Particularly as, if his instincts were correct, something serious was about to go down.

"Well, fancy meeting you here, little Genjyo. Long time, no see! Oh, and who's your friend? I can't say I've seen him with your group before." The man's voice was darkly amused, _cruel_, and Aya could see Sanzo's finger tightening on the trigger of his revolver.

"Where is my Master's Sutra?" Hissing, Sanzo took a step towards the man sitting on the edge of the surgical table, gun hand perfectly steady despite the fact that his body was trembling slightly from anger. Aya also raised his sword, but the man just laughed.

"I wouldn't have a clue what you mean. I just wanted to thank you for helping with my research; those creatures you faced today were just the beginning. Now, we can go better…smarter…_stronger_."

All Aya took in was the word 'we'; fragile temper snapping, he took a threatening step towards the man. "Where's Takatori?"

The black-haired man finally turned his eyes towards Aya, and the pure sadism behind the man's glasses immediately reminded Aya of Schwarz's Oracle. He idly waited for the man to tilt his spectacles with a glint of light, before realising that the man had begun to laugh again.

"Oh, this is wonderful! Don't you agree?" For the first time, Aya noticed that the man was holding…a stuffed rabbit? This had gone from bad, to weird, to _completely_ _fucked up_…

The dark man started muttering, acting as if he was having a conversation with the children's toy. Aya watched the process with horrified fascination, but he couldn't make out many words. Apart from hearing 'Sanzo' once or twice, the rest was a mystery.

Glancing to the side, Aya witnessed Sanzo becoming angrier and angrier; his face was contorted with rage, and yet…Aya vaguely noted how it was still a very good look for the man.

Eyes widening, Aya turned his attention back to the nutcase who was still conversing with the stuffed rabbit. That manner of thought was not appropriate for a mission; it was barely appropriate outside of missions. He needed to stay focused; why couldn't he call on his normally-endless supply of discipline?

Finally, after minutes of the only sound in the room being the stranger's muttering, silence reigned. The man dropped the rabbit down onto the table, looking directly up at the two armed men. He smiled, an evil expression that seemed to project malice.

"Well, we've decided that we don't want to kill you just yet. There's still so much _science_ to be done. I suppose we'll have to find anther lab now, though…what a bother. Oh, and you," he closed entirely in on Aya, "shouldn't worry yourself about Takatori. When I get bored of this, I'll probably just kill him myself. Play nicely, children!"

The room's lights simultaneously shattered, raining glass powder down onto the two assassins. A door on the opposite side of the room opened and shut, and Aya could only assume in the all-consuming darkness that they were now alone.

"Fucking _bastard!" _Sanzo ripped a small torch from inside his robes, shining it in the direction that the slamming nose had come from. Finding a second door, he began to run for it, clearly intent on following the other man. Aya took off behind the blonde, ready to rip the stranger to shreds until he found out where Takatori was hiding.

_He_ wanted to be the one to kill that son of a bitch; he wouldn't have that satisfaction taken from him, no matter how small it was.

Bursting through the door, the pair found themselves in yet another maze of corridors; there were too many different directions that the man could have disappeared in.

Sanzo barely paused, beginning to head down a random hallway. Quickly reaching out, Aya grabbed the man's shoulder, spinning him back into the wall by the open door. The blonde snarled, pointing his gun at Aya. "What the fuck are you doing? I'm going to kill that prick! He knows where my Master's Sutra is!"

Ignoring the bits of the sentence that he didn't understand, Aya stood firm. "It's too late. We'll never find him, and Ken will be setting the explosives soon. We have to get out of here."

Still facing Sanzo, Aya flicked his mouthpiece to life again. "Report! Is the schedule still solid?"

This time, Yohji's voice drifted through the earpiece, his low tone making Aya flash back to memories of two nights before, in the hallway by their bedrooms. Eye twitching, he focused on what Yohji was saying, rather than how he was saying it. "Yeah, there's absolutely nothing here. Siberian's gonna set the charges as soon as you're clear."

"We're leaving now. Set the timer." Aya turned away from Sanzo, ignoring the glare that was directed at his back.

"Charges set. Ten minutes, you two."

Aya addressed Sanzo, still keeping his back to the man, "Let's go."

Taking off at a run, Aya headed down the corridor that he remembered would allow the shortest trip outside. He was a good twenty metres from Sanzo before he heard a second set of footsteps, and he marginally slowed his pace to allow the blonde to catch up. Sprinting through numerous deserted corridors, never making a wrong turn, Aya finally burst back into the night with Sanzo not too far behind.

"We're out; meet back at home." Aya didn't bother waiting for a reply through his communicator, instead continuing to run to the edge of the compound. Checking his watch, he saw that they still had three minutes to spare; when he scaled the fence of the Korin area, he calmly jumped down and waited for Sanzo to follow.

With a graceful move that shouldn't have been possible with those robes, Sanzo swung himself over the fence before dropping neatly to his feet. He didn't bother looking at Aya, and merely kept walking away; clearly, he was still pissed that Aya had forced him to leave the stranger unharmed.

Aya ignored the fact that if it had been Takatori sitting there, he would never have stopped chasing the man; if he had have let Sanzo go, the mission may have been endangered in some way. The purpose of the night had been information; _not_ killing.

Taking off his ruined coat and wrapping it around his now-sheathed katana, Aya took off behind Sanzo, quickly catching and overtaking the man. He directed the blonde towards his car, despite the man's scowls and muttered threats.

Yes, Sanzo was supremely pissed. But Aya was sure that he had made the correct decision.

* * *

For the entire ride back to the Koneko, Sanzo found himself seething with anger. He'd had Ni Jianyi there- right in _front_ of him! And yet, the man was unharmed. If Aya hadn't interfered, Sanzo was sure that he would've found the bastard eventually, and then tore strips off him until he found out where his missing Sutra was.

But no. All he had was his anger, and an incomplete mission.

When the car finally pulled into the enclosed garage, nestled between the Weiss building and several other businesses, Sanzo nearly sighed with relief. Between his fury and the tension simmering in the air, Aya's Porsche had felt almost unbearably small. Just as the blonde was about to step out, though, he flicked his gaze towards Aya- and the look that the redhead was sending him showed nothing but disgust and disapproval.

Sanzo's anger boiled over.

Ripping his door open, Sanzo stalked to the driver's side as Aya folded himself out of the vehicle. Grabbing the front of the man's sleeveless shirt, his coat having been thrown in the back of the car, Sanzo pulled Aya forward before slamming him into the side of the garage.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? You have _no right_ to treat me like a child- you don't get to order me around." Sanzo placed himself firmly in Aya's personal space, still holding the man against the wall. When violet eyes met, Sanzo saw the rage flaring up inside Aya; he didn't back down.

"There was no need to set the charges. The mission wasn't over!" Snarling, the blonde slammed Aya into the wall again.

"Get your hands off me." Aya's voice was quiet but infinitely dangerous. His arms still hung by his sides, but Sanzo wasn't stupid enough to believe that the man wouldn't fight back. At least his sword was still in the car…

"Or what?" Sanzo couldn't help riling the redhead further. He _liked_ seeing the man express emotion; ever since the man had closed himself off that night in the living room, not long after the Ikkou had arrived in Japan, Sanzo had hated Aya's blank mask.

Aya didn't reply, but his scowl intensified. Sanzo's lips twitched, the man glad that he had a worthy target to take his anger out on. He was beginning to spoil for a fight; he knew that he could get one from Aya.

"Why are you pissed at me? _I'm_ the one who got fucked over here!" Sanzo leant even closer, but he reared back when Aya attempted a vicious headbutt.

And then it clicked.

"When that _thing _clawed you…you were distracted…" Aya opened his mouth, surely to spill out something nasty and vitriolic, but Sanzo jumped in again.

"You were too busy watching me! I saw it!" Sanzo's tone was mocking, but certain. That _had_ to be it: Aya's twisted logic meant that he blamed Sanzo for the injury that he'd gotten, both to his arm and to his pride.

Now somewhat distracted himself, Sanzo wasn't holding Aya as firmly as he had been, and the redhead took the opportunity to grab Sanzo's arm and twist it painfully. Swearing, Sanzo turned his back to Aya and dropped towards the ground, ignoring the increased pain in his arm as he hoped to knock Aya off balance with his sudden movement.

It worked; Aya's hold on Sanzo's arm loosened, and the redhead stumbled slightly. His leg connected hard with Sanzo's shoulder, the priest still crouched down, and the blow tipped Sanzo over until he was flat on his back.

Aya's own precarious balance was thrown from the contact, and he had to twist his body to avoid from hitting his head on the wall of the garage as he fell.

The movement sent Aya sprawling half on top of Sanzo, the entire left side of his body pressed against Sanzo's.

The breath leaving him at the sudden contact, Sanzo suddenly remembered how goddamned _good-looking_ the man he'd been fighting with was. His anger suddenly mutated, taking on an entirely different form- pure _desire. _Having Aya pressed against him proved too much for his control, and he gave himself over to the carnal urges he'd been entertaining since the first time he had seen the redheaded man.

Aya's body tensed, and the man scrambled for a place to put his hands that _wasn't _on Sanzo. Before he could stand up, though, Sanzo had grabbed his waist, flipping both of them over so that the blonde was on top.

His chest heaving madly, Aya tried to buck Sanzo from the perch he had taken on the redhead's hips. That only served to rub his crotch against Sanzo, allowing the priest to discover what he had suspected all along: that the lust was reciprocated.

Sanzo leant forward as Aya let out the quietest of moans, still clearly trying to reject the blonde. "Does fighting get you _hard_, Aya?"

Beautiful purple eyes flashed with anger, but Sanzo ignored it. Instead, he continued to lean forward, crashing his lips against Aya's in a passionate, almost violent kiss. For a few seconds, Aya refused to open his lips, though he didn't try to push Sanzo away. Grinding his hips down so that his groin rubbed sensually against Aya's, Sanzo forced a moan from the man, and promptly took the chance to slide his tongue into Aya's mouth.

Half expecting the redhead to bite down, Sanzo shivered when Aya's tongue slowly began to meet his own. He was completely hard- and it felt like the swordsman was quickly becoming the same. There was still too much hesitance for Sanzo's liking, though, and he made a split-second decision that he _hoped_ would tip the scales in his favour.

Breaking away from the kiss, Sanzo raised himself onto his knees so that he could reach one hand down to cup Aya through his leather pants. The redhead's breath caught, and Sanzo rubbed his palm along Aya's covered erection.

Dropping his voice to a low rumble, Sanzo pressed back down to speak directly into Aya's ear, trapping his hand between their bodies. "Aya…_fuck me."_

Usually, Sanzo preferred to top when he screwed around with men; like he'd said, he would never bottom for someone like Gojyo. Sometimes, though, he was willing to give up control- and if giving up control meant the difference between getting and losing Aya, he was happy to oblige.

The redhead really didn't seem like much of a bottom, anyway.

Aya groaned properly this time, wrapping a hand in Sanzo's hair to pull his head over for another kiss. Eventually letting off, Aya grabbed the blonde's shoulder and pushed him up, wordlessly telling Sanzo to stand.

Lust coursing through him, the priest rose gracefully, resisting the urge to pull Aya along with him. He didn't think that a show of dominance like that would go over too well.

When Aya stood, it didn't take long before he had his hand gripped in the front of the priest's robes, pushing him against the wall in the opposite fashion to just minutes earlier. Hungrily devouring Sanzo's lips, Aya ran his other hand down the blonde's side, slipping his hand over to stroke where he thought the man's crotch was- the robes made it a little difficult to precisely tell. The throaty sound that Sanzo let out informed him that he had guessed right. When Aya stepped back, Sanzo instinctively tried to follow.

"Ditch the robe." Aya's voice was pure authority; a mission tone. Smirking slightly, Sanzo set to stripping himself of the heavy material as he watched Aya turn away. Wondering what the Hell the redhead was doing, Sanzo dropped his robes in a pile on the floor, Sutra neatly rolled on top.

Aya walked over to where Yohji's roadster was parked- the others were clearly inside already- and leant over the door to dig through the open-top car. Popping the glove box, he poked around for something before straightening up again.

Turning back, Sanzo could now see what Aya had nicked from Yohji's car: a half-empty bottle of lube. He snickered slightly at the fact that Aya had realised that the blonde _would_ carry in his car.

Aya stalked back towards Sanzo, a distinctly predatory look in his eyes and walk. '_Like a hunting cat…'_

The blonde let himself be shoved into the wall again, Aya's hand splayed across the centre of his chest. It was clear that Aya had also channelled his anger into passion, the two emotions so closely linked that Sanzo shivered in anticipation of a good, hard fucking.

He knew that Aya wouldn't be gentle; that was how he wanted it.

Sanzo felt a hand at the button of his jeans, flicking it open so that Aya could promptly place his hand directly inside Sanzo's underwear. The blonde tilted his hips slightly forward, and Aya smirked.

Without any warning, the redhead removed his hand from Sanzo's pants, instead grabbing his hips and spinning him until he faced the bonnet of Aya's Porsche. With a hard shove between his shoulder blades, Sanzo found his chest pressed into the immaculate white paint of Aya's prized car.

He felt Aya mould himself to his back, leaning down to press his lips against the priest's ear. "Scratch the paint and you'll regret it."

Sharply nipping at Sanzo's earlobe with his teeth, Aya pulled back before ripping the blonde's jeans and underwear down to his knees. Some small part of Sanzo's brain noted that it should have been mortifying, being bent over a car with his bare ass in the air; but surprisingly, it was just _really_ hot.

He no longer cared either way when two well-lubed fingers began pressing inside his body. He couldn't help but wince a little- it'd been a while since he'd been the one getting taken.

The pain mingled together with pleasure when Aya twisted his fingers, hitting Sanzo's sweet spot almost brutally. The redhead thrust his hand in and out a few times, adding a third finger as soon as Sanzo began to press his ass into the movements of Aya's hand.

"A-Aya…do it already…" Sanzo was so hard that it hurt, his cock encountering nothing but the cold surface of the Porsche. He _needed_ more than just a few fingers.

When the redhead pulled his hand away, Sanzo groaned. He could hear Aya ripping something open; he must have grabbed a condom from Yohji's car as well. A few wet sounds later, and Sanzo felt something hard and blunt slowly entering his slick hole. When Aya met resistance, Sanzo forced himself to breathe; soon enough, the redhead was seated fully inside him, and Sanzo was _too_ close to begging the man to move.

Before he had to swallow his pride any further, though, Aya began a series of punishing thrusts, slamming in and out of Sanzo as he held the blonde still with a hand on his back. The other pale hand worked its way between the car and Sanzo's body, reaching down to firmly grasp his neglected cock.

Sanzo groaned, Aya striking his prostate just as the redhead's hand slid up his dick. His face was sliding uncomfortably against the bonnet from the force of Aya's strokes, but Sanzo didn't care in the least; the sensations in his lower body, from Aya's cock in his ass and hand on his erection, to the erotic feel of leather pants against the back of his bare thighs, far outweighed anything else that was also happening.

Aya pushed harder, long and fast thrusts that made Sanzo bite down on his own forearm so that no screams escaped. He wasn't going to last all that much longer; the pleasure was too intense.

Sanzo heard Aya's breaths turn to pants, and he began pushing his ass back to meet the redhead's thrusts. When Aya's hand left off his back to brutally bite into his waist, Sanzo knew that it was almost over. A few short strokes more and Aya let out a choked cry, his cock jerking in Sanzo's ass as he came.

Between the sensations inside him, and the way that the redhead's hand tightened slightly around his stiff dick, Sanzo couldn't hold out anymore. He accidentally drew blood from his arm, muffling his groan of completion as he spurted across the side of Aya's Porsche.

Breathing hard, he sighed when Aya slipped from his body, his knees going weak. Clutching the side of the car, Sanzo tried to support himself as Aya took off his condom and rebuttoned his pants.

Finally finding his legs, Sanzo managed to pull his jeans up again, glad that his robes would hide the mess over the front of the material. He couldn't be bothered cleaning up; he couldn't be bothered with much right now.

Turning around, Sanzo raised an eyebrow as he saw Aya approach Yohji's car again. The redhead glanced over and smirked at him, dangling the used condom between two fingers before throwing it under the driver's seat of the roadster. Sanzo snickered a little, wondering how long it would take Yohji to find the little 'present'.

Gathering the strength to put his robes back on, Sanzo walked away from the Porsche as Aya moved towards it. The redhead frowned, and Sanzo bit his lip.

"Hey!" The priest paused in picking up his robes, wondering whether he could escape Aya's incoming wrath. He'd messed up the man's car; frankly, he was fucked- in a different fashion this time.

"I expect to see you here tomorrow- you're cleaning my entire car for this." Aya pointed his finger at Sanzo, glaring with none of his usual malice. Flushed skin and a visibly relaxed body didn't help the illusion of anger, either. Aya turned, walking out of the garage and towards the house.

Sanzo couldn't help it: he burst out laughing.

* * *

*******YES! I did it! Ah ha ha ha! (Now to hide from all the clichés…)

Anyway, I took Sanzo's chant straight from the first volume of the first manga, in case you were wondering. Oh, and Ni does refer to Sanzo as "little Genjyo" in the manga, and it seems so perfectly condescending that I just ran with it. Originally, at one point I had Ni calling Sanzo "Sanzo-boy", but then I started reading everything he said in the voice that Pegasus has in 'Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series', and I had to take it out before things got really camp and/or _simply_ _fabulous!_*******


	9. Chapter 9

**Note (01/Mar/11): **It was brought to my attention that I incorrectly switched 'Gojyo' and 'Yohji' in a couple of places; this update is just to fix that. No new chapter yet, I'm sorry!

*******I'm sorry: I haven't forgotten about this fic, but I got really caught up in 'Welcome to the Night', and somehow managed to put aside the fact that I finally got Aya and Sanzo together.

Time to initiate _**Stage Three**_ (also known as the one that basically prompted me to write this goddamned story in the first place.)

But _wow_, were there some serious errors in this chapter. At one point, I had "discrepancy" instead of "discretion". Lolwut*******

* * *

Finally certain that his robes were properly back in place, Sanzo followed Aya into the Koneko. The others were probably already in the living room, waiting to debrief so that the two teams could go their separate ways.

Sanzo walked slowly, carefully getting his emotions back under control before facing his men. They'd already waited while he'd been getting fucked over a car; they could wait a few extra minutes while he made sure that he looked normal.

He felt relaxed, satisfied; but apart from the slightly bleeding teeth marks on his arm and the come on his jeans, both of which were covered by his long robes, there was no way that anyone could tell.

Eventually making it to the living room, Sanzo stalked over to where Goku was sitting, sprawled out against the wall. He leaned stiffly into the plaster, subtly glancing over to where Aya was nearly mirroring his pose against the opposite wall. The redhead looked exactly the same as always: composed and detached.

Just for good measure, Sanzo made sure to shoot a vicious glare in the direction of the couch, where…

'_Oh, sweet merciful __**goddess**__…'_

Gojyo was stretched out along the length of the three-seater, his head resting in Hakkai's lap and his bare feet in Yohji's lap. Sanzo wasn't in the least bit surprised about the horny kappa and his blonde clone, but Hakkai? _Really?_

The brunette usually had more discretion than that; it was completely obvious that he was screwing Gojyo, but he generally kept the public touching to a minimum. Actually, Sanzo didn't generally see Hakkai touch _anyone_ outside of healing, so seeing him sitting there with Gojyo's face nearly in his crotch was more than a little odd.

"Shit, Sanzo, I know you're gettin' old and all, but you sure took your damn time coming in!" Gojyo was smirking in his direction, head hanging upside down just above Hakkai's lap. Ignoring the typical 'old man' joke, Sanzo raised an eyebrow at the second part of Gojyo's statement.

"Quit your bitching. What do you have to whinge about?" He didn't mean to flick his eyes towards Gojyo's two companions, but the redhead caught the unbidden action and snickered.

"Jealous, Cherry-chan?" Sanzo had to fight to keep his face still; it was a tough battle. Gojyo's nickname for him was so pathetically incorrect, and as for his supposed jealousy, Sanzo was guessing that Gojyo hadn't gotten laid since _before_ the mission- he didn't have the look of smug satisfaction that he usually wore after getting a bit. The priest definitely had one up on him in _that_ department.

So as to not give away what he was thinking, Sanzo rolled his eyes and let out a brief, "Tch."

Looking back up, Sanzo felt eyes on him; over the top of where Ken was slouched down in an armchair, he could see that Aya was staring in his direction, the swordsman's head tipped downwards to ineffectually disguise the look with his fringe. He held Aya's partially-hidden gaze for a moment, before turning away as Omi began to speak.

"Okay, now that we're all here, can we please get this done as quickly as possible?" From anyone else, that would've sounded impatient and rude, but Omi appeared just as innocently polite as always.

An assortment of nods, verbal affirmations and disinterested grunts rolled around the room. Omi smiled brightly, clapping his hands together. "Okay, so, team one's report. Everything went according to plan until approximately the halfway point; that was when Schwarz appeared."

The smile immediately vanished, replaced instead by a slight look of distaste. "They didn't directly engage us, instead using a whole bunch of those _things_ to fight. Other than that, everything went _relatively_ smoothly until we grouped together again."

"Hang on, Omittichi. You forgot what that Schuldig bastard said as they were cutting off," Yohji announced with obvious boredom.

"Hmmm? Oh, of course! When Schwarz were trying to disappear during the chaos, Schuldig began complaining about being 'whored out' to Masafumi; I'm fairly certain that I heard Crawford say something about 'doing whatever Reiji wanted them to.'"

There it was again! Sanzo was certain this time; something about Aya _changed_ whenever this Takatori Masafumi person was mentioned. He'd only been watching out of the corner of his eye, but Sanzo knew that there was something different about the redhead in the few moments after Omi had mentioned that name. It wasn't blatantly obvious, but it was there.

"But what could Takatori- the old bastard one- possibly have to gain from somethin' like this?" Ken sounded genuinely contemplative, and Sanzo frowned slightly. He vaguely recognised the name 'Takatori Reiji', which he assumed was where the others were heading, but he was having trouble placing it.

"Well, my money's on him wanting his own personal army. It's so fucking _obvious, _what withhow much of a power-hungry prick he is." Yohji had one arm draped along the back of the couch, his other resting on top of where Gojyo's legs still rested in his lap. His fingers seemed to be slowly slipping up towards the kappa's thigh, though.

Looking away from the couch, Sanzo caught Omi sneaking a worried glance in the direction of the three seated men, as if he was worried that a full-blown orgy was going to break out in the living room.

The priest's initial, _unwanted_ thought went something along the lines of, '_Hot!'_

He decided that was a purely hormone-driven reaction, considering the fact that he could still feel the after-effects of Aya screwing him hard. Accordingly, his second line of thought was more attuned to '_messy and awkward'_, and he shook his head a little in disgust.

He wouldn't have been surprised if it _did_ happen, though. He knew Gojyo a little too well to discount something like that.

"Who were those other guys?" Sanzo vaguely registered someone talking to his general area, and he shifted his gaze from Omi to Ken. He didn't particularly feel like talking, however, and so he passed the question to Gojyo. "Kappa. Explain."

Lifting his head, the half-breed flipped Sanzo off before sarcastically blowing him a kiss. "As you command, boss man."

Grumbling at the effort, Gojyo twisted his legs off the couch- and Yohji- and sat up straight between the two other men. Rolling his head around to loosen his neck, he started quickly running through the major points. "We basically went the same as the other team, except _we_ had a run in with Kougaiji and a bunch of those mutant Youkai.

"It was more of their usual shit: y'know, give us the Sutra, yadda yadda yadda, prepare to die, blah blah blah. We fought a bunch of the little bastards, they got away, and then we met up with you lot."

"I meant about who they _are_, you idiot," Sanzo snapped. Gojyo scowled for a moment, and then gave a little mock salute in the priest's direction.

"And I love you too. Kougaiji's the prince of Youkai, but he seems to spend more time running around after baldy here than doing…royal stuff. Oh, and he's got a total Oedipus complex." Gojyo smiled proudly, but it degenerated into a smirk when he noticed the way that Aya was staring somewhat bemusedly at him.

"What? I live with _Hakkai_, for fuck's sake. I might not have gone to school, but I did pick up a thing or two."

"Is there a point to this?" Sanzo asked with a sigh of exasperation. He was exhausted, and he _really_ should have known better than to let Gojyo start talking.

"Hmmm? Oh, nope. Anyway, he's basically the leader of our Schwarz. Then there's a chick who'd actually be pretty hot if she wasn't so freaking quiet, and…uh…my brother."

"Your _what_?" Omi's voice went even higher in pitch, and his eyes were wide as he stared at Gojyo. Mad giggling came from the side of the room, where Goku was tipping over sideways.

"Well, half-brother, really. Long-lost and all the rest, it's complicated." Gojyo clearly didn't want to talk about it, and he demonstrated the point by promptly dropping back into his previous sprawled position; only this time, his head rested in Yohji's lap, while his feet were lying across Hakkai. The tall blonde's hand immediately reached down to brush red hair from matching eyes, and Aya glared harder.

Goddamned nymphomaniacs.

"Was the little one with them?" Hakkai's quiet question, clearly intended to move the conversation along, had Gojyo lifting his head once more to wink gratefully at his best friend.

"Nope, and I reckon Sanzo was upset about that!" Goku, who had only just managed to bring himself under control, set off in another fit of giggles at Gojyo's teasing words.

Sanzo growled deeply, his hand disappearing into his robes and then appearing again with the fan he always seemed to carry.

"Idiot!" Snarling, the priest brought the fan down over Goku's head, making him yelp with over-exaggerated pain. Stalking across the room, Sanzo headed directly for Gojyo, who was still running his mouth off.

"Him and his little underage girlfriend…Sweet Merciful Goddess, Sanzo, you really need to get a woman your own age. So, like, fifty."

The fan swatted down several times, wiping the stupid grin from the kappa's face, and making Yohji tense as the weapon came dangerously close to his crotch.

"Shit, asshole, the whole of this city'll be after you if you damage me there, so lay off!" Yohji twitched a little when Sanzo's furious eyes met with his, even though it was no different to being glared at by Aya. The fan was raised in the air once more, but the priest hesitated.

From the constant moving, Sanzo's sleeve had been gradually slipping up his arm. When he raised it the final time, a set of ugly bleeding marks were revealed to the two men he was currently facing.

"Holy shit! Did one of the mutants get you, priesty?" Gojyo reached a hand out, as if to touch the wound. The priest jerked his arm back, whacking Gojyo's outstretched limb before returning the fan to his robes. He swiftly pulled his sleeve back down, covering the self-inflicted teeth marks.

"No. Mind your own business, dipshit."

"Ah, Sanzo, don't you think I should take a look at that? We don't know if the mutation is spread by infection, after all…" Hakkai ignored the venomous scowl being directed at him, smiling politely in the face of Sanzo's fury.

"Leave it, before I finish what you tried to start the day I found you." Hakkai's façade dropped for a split second, and Gojyo felt a spike in the previously-faint Youkai energy coming from the brunette.

Then, the simmering anger disappeared, and Hakkai smiled blankly once again. "If that's what you wish, Sanzo."

"What about Aya? He got clawed, didn't he?" Ken, oblivious to the mini-drama going on at the couch, spoke up without thinking. He glanced over at the aforementioned redhead, who was now glaring just as angrily as Sanzo had been.

"I'm fine, _apparently_." Aya turned his head to look at Hakkai, Sanzo having moved out of the way and back to Goku.

"Yes, you've got nothing to worry about. If it _is_ a virus, it's not in your system anymore." Hakkai nodded a little, and Aya narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He still didn't understand what the quiet man had done to his arm; he only knew that the wound wasn't there anymore.

"What did you _do_?" As much as he hated showing his ignorance, Aya couldn't help but ask. He needed to know.

"I healed you with my chi energy. Don't worry, you're perfectly okay." Gojyo laughed when three more sets of surprised eyes bore into Hakkai, the Weiss members speechless at the revelation. A _lot_ of questions were appearing with every answer, but no one felt awake enough to turn the debriefing into an interrogation.

"Stupid _fucking_…Is this a goddamned freak show or what? Can we hurry up and get this shit over and done with?" Sanzo's temper reached breaking point, the unwanted interlude lengthening the time he had to spend awake.

"Oh, yes! All we've got left is…Sanzo, Aya; what happened when the door locked?" Omi took the initiative again, asking the question that the priest knew was coming but still didn't want to answer.

"Ni Jianyi. He's the one working with…Takatori." The line was designed with a purpose in mind, and Sanzo was sure to watch Aya closely as he said the final word. This time, the reaction was highly muted, but it was definitely _there_.

Aya placed some sort of significance on that name; Sanzo was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

It didn't take long for the briefing to dissolve, with Sanzo refusing to say anything more and Aya refusing to start.

The redhead was too lost in his own thoughts to pay attention to the wheedling of the other men, as they attempted to find out exactly what had happened to the separated pair.

His mind ran in a continuous loop around Takatori scum, his own utter stupidity in getting hurt, and the remembered pleasure of spontaneously jumping Sanzo.

He didn't know _why_ he'd suddenly moved from ignoring his body to fucking a man he had to work with; he just understood that it had been a very good decision at the time.

The blonde man had been surprisingly submissive…Aya appreciated that, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering whether Sanzo's dominant side would ever appear during sex.

He wanted to find out for himself. The priest was…

Aya froze, blinking. He'd _completely_ overlooked that fact: the fact that he'd screwed a _Buddhist priest_.

Even Yohji, incorrigible man-slut that he was, probably couldn't say that he had done a holy man.

Although it didn't physically show, Aya was feeling smug. Sanzo looked good; and he'd felt good. The 'priest' thing was irrelevant. But his most positive point came from the fact that he wasn't staying.

Aya was male- he liked sex. What he _didn't_ like, though, was emotional attachment. He didn't need anything getting in the way of his quest for revenge, and so he'd had to learn to quell his natural urges. Strangers didn't do it for him, and they often wanted to stick around. He'd seen many a woman- plus a man or two- hovering around the flowershop after a one night stand with Yohji, despite the fact that the blonde claimed to have made it known that a second fling wasn't on the cards. So Aya had stayed celibate since Knight…until he'd finally given in to his primal instincts.

Sanzo was closed off. He wouldn't want anything more than a quick fuck every now and again. And, just in case the blonde had a brain snap that led to him developing unexpected feelings, there was always the inevitability of the Ikkou returning to China.

It was a safe bet, to take up sleeping with Sanzo and making tonight's quick tryst more than a one-time occurrence. Aya was willing to make that bet.

He knew that the blonde would be as well, priestly vows or no.

Shifting against the wall, Aya felt his lower stomach begin to heat ever so slightly. Now that he'd finally allowed himself a proper release, his body wanted _more_.

He was exhausted, covered in dried blood and still a little horny. It was looking like his plan until morning would consist of a thorough shower, a good fast fuck and enough sleep to make working tomorrow bearable.

Not to mention that if Sanzo stayed the night, he'd be ready bright and early to wash his come off Aya's precious Porsche.

Looking up, Aya stared at Sanzo until the priest met his gaze. Letting remembered heat flood his eyes, he tried to convey his message as subtly as he could: '_I'm not done with you yet.'_

With a quick flash of surprise, Sanzo gave a small nod and Aya pushed off the wall. "We're finished here."

Omi looked uncertain, but he eventually nodded. "Okay. Goodnight, everybody. I'll spend tomorrow going over other locations that they could be working from, and I'll call when I know."

The chibi promptly left the room, followed shortly by a tired, lumbering Ken. Hakkai gently removed Gojyo's legs from his lap, standing up and stretching out his limbs. The kappa sat up again, looking up at his friend with a smirk on his face. "You want us to, ah, _accompany _you to the hotel, 'Kai? You don't want anyone bothering you on the way back, after all…"

The suggestion was obvious, but Hakkai shook his head. "I'm positively exhausted, and will probably fall asleep the minute I return. Stay here and work off some of that excess energy you always seem to gather after missions."

Gojyo stood, throwing an arm over the brunette's shoulders and dropping a kiss on the man's cheek. "I'll see ya tomorrow, then." Letting Hakkai go, the half-breed waited until the man had turned before pinching his ass.

Aya ignored the entire proceeding, focused only on emptying the room so that he could privately- and figuratively- drag his prey off by the hair.

It didn't take long for Gojyo to help Yohji up, the pair tangled in each other as they practically ran for the bedroom. It was positively _sickening_, in Aya's opinion.

Sanzo sent Goku off with Hakkai, refusing to answer any questions about why he wasn't leaving. The redhead schooled his face into anger, biting out a curt, "I have things to _discuss _with your leader."

It was clear by the scared look on Goku's face that he thought Sanzo was in for an absolute ripping. Aya was satisfied with that misunderstanding. Let the kid and the unassuming one think that he hated Sanzo. It was easier that way.

With the room now empty of spectators, Aya soundlessly led the way to his bedroom. Each Weiss member had their own bathroom, to eliminate waiting times after missions, and so it was safe for him to let Sanzo shower.

He wasn't letting the man into his bed covered in dried blood and come, anyway. He had _standards_, unlike some of the people he lived with.

Kicking his door open, Aya stalked into the sparsely-decorated room, spinning around to slam the door behind the priest. He extended a pale arm, pointing rigidly in the direction of his ensuite.

"The shower is that way. Don't bother getting dressed again."

Sanzo's eyebrow quirked upwards, but he quickly let his robes fall to the floor. "Tch."

As he walked towards the bathroom, Sanzo felt his lips twitch to the side. He had a beautiful man who didn't seem inclined towards emotions or attachments.

Maybe this temporary transfer to Japan wasn't quite as annoying as he'd initially decided.

* * *

Gojyo settled himself against Yohji's back, gathering the blonde in his arms and enjoying the weight of the naked body pressed close. Yohji made a sleepy, contented noise, muttering a quiet, "Goodnight."

The kappa opened his mouth to reply, but he paused when a muted sound caught his attention.

"Ah!"

"…Again? _Really?_" Gojyo laughed softly, accidentally shaking Yohji a little.

"Hmmm? Wha'?"

"Shhh, listen."

Silence reigned, until:

"_Fuck." _The word was muffled, but it was still recognisable as a moan. Yohji sniggered tiredly, trying not to imagine what Aya must have been dreaming. He wouldn't have admitted it out loud, but he didn't think he had the energy to go another round without passing out.

Not that he was adverse to the idea of _trying_, but still…

The pair didn't have to strain their ears to hear what came next; but both thought they were hallucinating.

It was muffled again, but clearly understandable.

"Aya!"

Yohji turned to face Gojyo, whose features he couldn't see in the darkness. The redhead leaned right in, speaking softly to his lover. "Did he just call…his own name?"

Gojyo's Youkai senses allowed him to make out the blonde's face, and he watched as Yohji frowned in thought. "It's not his real name...but…it didn't _sound_ like him."

Gojyo blinked a few times, cursing his stupidity. He had naturally better hearing than Yohji, and yet he hadn't registered the way the voice had been the wrong pitch, with a different _undercurrent_ than usual.

It hadn't been Aya at all. But that meant…

"He's fucking _Sanzo!" _Yohji slapped his hand over Gojyo's loud mouth…or where he though the redhead's mouth was, the dark making things a little difficult.

"_Shut up! _Are you sure? Well, actually…it wasn't Ken, I would've recognised his voice…and don't even _think_ about it being Omi." Yohji's eyes widened as the truth fell properly into place.

"Well, _fuck_…I can't believe they got it together so quickly." The blonde shivered a little, imagining the scene in the next room. _Aya and Sanzo_…if Yohji didn't know that the violent redhead would realise straight away, he'd have cameras installed in that bedroom.

"We _really _need to stop listening to him," Gojyo muttered as he rubbed his reawakened crotch against Yohji. The blonde smirked, running one of his hands down the kappa's side before trailing his fingers right to Gojyo's erection.

"I'm warning you, I might pass out halfway through. But now that we're…_awake_…" Yohji leaned back enough to fit his hand between their bodies, gently cupping the redhead.

Gojyo's voice rumbled softly, and he rolled them both until he loomed over Yohji.

"You won't last five minutes with me. I guarantee it."

Leaning down to passionately catch Yohji's lips with his own, Gojyo forgot all thoughts about the two men _apparently_ sharing the next room.

…For now.


End file.
